(Xinhua)
Updated: 2007-12-07 19:05

LONDON -- "It's so cute, could you please buy me that monkey hat?"

"I want the cat, mum!"

At the Christmas market at the foot of Edinburgh Monument in Edinburgh, the capital city of Scotland, two little sisters were attracted by the colorful hats in the shapes of monkey, cat, lion and tiger, most which had a small made-in-China tag.

"They are a lovely attraction in the market," said the saleswoman in her 40s. Most of the traditional Christmas hats and gloves, red or green, sold at the booth, are made in China, and they have always been a best seller at the market, she said.

"I like the lion hat, it's lovely," a young man said. When asked whether he knows that those hats are made in China, the man said "yes."

"Not only these hats, there is almost everything made in China in shops actually all over the world," he said.

"Good and low-priced" things made in China are almost everywhere in Britain. Going to high street shops such as GAP, Sports World, Next and ZARA, British people would often end up buying home things made in China, with such big brands as Nike, Adidas, Clarks and many more, said the man who claimed to have quite a few Chinese classmates during his college years in London.

"China has one-fourth of the world's population, and the Chinese people are known for being hardworking and clever, (and thus) it's not strange to find so many things made in China," the man said.

The Scottish man's view is shared by tens of thousands of British people who are greeted with made-in-China in their daily life.

David Brewer, former Lord Mayor of the City of London, said made-in-China is growing to be part of the Europeans' daily life, and one of the complaints he got during his term came even from those Chinese visitors, as many of them coming to London in the hope of taking home British souvenirs for friends turned out to be buying goods made in China!

"What a change China has made over the past decades," Brewer said.

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