China demonstrated their abilities of competitiveness with great ease at the Beijing 2008 Olympics, winning 51 Gold, 21 Silver and 28 Bronze medals during the last fortnight. Not all competitions were won fair and square, I suppose, but that in itself is nothing new in sport competitions or Olympic Games.

Nearer home, here in Mallorca, you may have noticed a sudden rise of Chinese mega shops opening up over the last few years, everywhere. Here in Felanitx, where I live, at least four of such ventures have opened their doors in the last few years, each one bigger than the previous one, and each one offering wares more hideous and ghastly than the next.

I have now discovered where all the Chinese merchandise originates from. A Bazar Nuevo Oriental wholesale warehouse in the Polígono de San Castelló on the outskirts of Palma de Mallorca (shown here) appears to be the main supplier of Chinese knick-knack on the island, be that plastic flowers, bras, handbags, t-shirts, cutlery, tools, toys or novelties of unspeakably bad taste and questionable merit. Whad’ya know?

The photo was taken in Palma de Mallorca, Baleares, Spain. The date: June 17th, 2008. The time was 13:04:27.