Chinese Commodities

Our friend Shane H, a Peace Corps Volunteer based in Gurjaani, Georgia, knows where to find the good food and the cool things. He's a former chef. He has shot many hoofed creatures, and once had much of the skin on his face replaced after an accident with an explosive toy rocket. He shares a love of burning Christmas trees, fast internets, and good cheap food.

Last he was in Tbilisi, he mentioned a new indoor shopping mall—one entirely comprised of stores selling stuff Made in China. One afternoon, in Shane's hardy company, we struck out to find said China Mall.

It was, in the end, hard to miss. Directly across from the big central food bazaar, there is a brand-new, cinder-block-and-cement behemoth building with a used-car-lot's worth of flags gracing its grim elephant-gray exterior.

Tbilisi has many "China Shops" throughout its variously winding and cobbled streets. They are places where one can buy the kind of affordable and sometimes poorly-made miscellany that has "Made in China" stamped on it -- everything from knock-off Adidas sneakers and women's scarfs to alarm clocks and steak knives. These shops seem to be staffed by multilingual Chinese and Georgians, and the shops are pretty popular. Many of the things for sale are of poor quality, but they're priced accordingly.

Anyway, some unknown power had this very substantial, hastily assembled (and still being finished) building erected opposite the food bazaar near Vagzlis Moedani. And they had it filled with "China Shops," where you can now get *all* of your Made In China-ware for (so Shane says) less than the street-side China shops are selling (the exact same stuff) for.

And so: direct from the sweatshops of China -- mops! flatware! forks! aprons! women's underwear! clock radios! irons! minor household appliances! and many more things!

There's also a casino (if you want to give your money to management directly without burdening yourself with material goods), and a very cheap Georgian & Chinese buffet-style fast-food joint, where, as in the rest of the mall, you get what you pay for.