Import From China Business

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Import from China
Sell on eBay

Sandra Kell
Ontario, Canada
Baby Products
Profit This Year: $10,400

“I started with $1,000 and began importing baby products from China. I sell them on eBay, Facebook and in my local stores.  After 8 months, I am earning $400 a week.  I finally quit my day job!”

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China Shoes

China Shoes

China Shoes conjure up many images as an industry within China and around the world.  "Made in China" Shoes have practically impacted every corner of the globe.  The rest of the world is shrinking while China escalates to a global economic power.  Thousands of leather manufacturers in China produce billions of pairs of shoes for export around the world.

China Shoes have also been part of the Chinese belief and culture for many generations.  China Shoes called Lotus shoes were made for women who were engaged in foot binding, a practice in Chinese culture and a way of life for generations.

Photo Credit: Legs - Lu Tb

Lotus Shoes for Foot Binding

The practice of foot binding in China has its origins in the tenth century throughout the Han ethnic majority and ended by the twentieth century during the communist rule.  Dancers in the Imperial court wore very tight shoes which led to the practice of foot binding.

Little girls' feet were tightly wrapped with strips of cloth to stop them from growing.  The toes with the exception of the big toe were folded underneath the sole.  The bones would break and the feet would become deformed as they attempt to grow.  It resulted in grown women with hoof like feet no longer than three to four inches in length.  Although initially very painful, the experience eventually became tolerable over the years due the bones becoming healed.  Grown Chinese women with bind feet would walk in tiny steps on their heels to compensate for their deformed feet.

The practice of foot binding became popular with the elite Chinese women for a variety of reasons:

• Bound tiny feet were considered feminine and attractive.  Large feet on women were considered ugly and more masculine.
• Women with bound feet were considered disciplined and were raised properly with proper etiquette.
• Women with tiny feet were thought to be more marriageable.  It is a characteristic sought after by parents looking for wives for their sons in arranged Chinese marriages.  Disciplined girls with tiny bound feet were more likely to be virgins, another highly sought after trait.
• Special China shoes called Lotus Shoes were made for women with bound feet.  Women engaged in foot binding would decorate the Lotus shoes with colors and images as a form of self expression.

China Shoes Beliefs

Within Chinese culture, there are many beliefs surrounding China Shoes. Here are a few of the more popular ones:

• The China Shoes of the deceased are considered as unlucky.
• Burning old shoes is a way of removing dead spirits and witchcraft.
• The deceased are often buried with comfortable new shoes for the afterlife.
• Longevity shoes were used as China shoes to carry the dead to the afterlife.  Such longevity shoes were often decorated with images of a lotus flower and a ladder.
• Dead Chinese emperors wore jade shoes.  The rest of their shoes were destroyed and burned upon burial.
• Taking China shoes and banging them against a door is a means of getting lost souls to return.

China Shoes Manufacturing

Unless you were paying attention during the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, China, you probably have never heard of Li Ning, a brand of sports shoes in China.  Li Ning is China's largest sports shoe supplier and was an Olympics sponsor.  Such popular China Shoes brands in China with little presence overseas present golden import opportunities for the westerner.

Some of the key China Shoes manufacturing areas in China include:

Guangdong Province

• This region produces over 175 million pairs of shoes per month. Most of them are labeled with foreign brands.  
• The city of Dongguan has many China shoes manufacturers. Millions of pairs of running shoes from this city end up in retailers such as Wal-mart around the world for US$10 to $20 a pair.

Zhejiang Province

• This area is a powerhouse for the production of China Shoes, leather, and socks.
• The city of Wenzhou within the Zhejiang province has been proclaimed as the China Shoes city.

China Shoes Trade Shows

For those interested in capitalizing on the huge China Shoes market, attending a local China Shoes trade show is a must.

International Shoes and Leather Exhibition (Guangzhou, China)

• This China Shoes trade show is organized by Top Repute Company Limited, a Hong Kong exhibition and conference company.
• Regarded as the largest China Shoes exhibition, "Shoes & Leather - Guangzhou" has been in existence for the past 20 years.
• The multiple day show draws 40K visitors from more than 50 countries.
• Represented at the exhibition are China Shoes' top five industrial regions of Guangdong, Fuijian, Wenzhou, Chengdu and Chongqing.
  
  http://www.toprepute.com.hk