A Year Without "Made in China": One Family's True Life Adventure in the Global Economy

by Sara Bongiorni

A Year Without "Made in China" provides you with a thought-provoking and thoroughly entertaining account of how the most populous nation on Earth influences almost every aspect of our daily lives. Drawing on her years as an award-winning journalist, author Sara Bongiorni fills this book with engaging stories and anecdotes of her family's attempt to outrun China's reach–by boycotting Chinese made products–and does a remarkable job of taking a decidedly big-picture issue and breaking it down to a personal level.

Genres: Nonfiction, Memoir, Economics, Sociology, China, Biography Memoir, Business

256 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2007

Reviews

[Bronwen · Rating 1 out of 5]

A Year Without "Made in China" is the author Sara Bongiorni's account of her family's experience boycotting all items manufactured in China for an entire year. Bongiorni makes it clear in the first chapter that there is no noble cause or ethical reasons for this boycott, it is simply an "experiment," to see if her family can succeed in banning Chinese merchandise from their lives.

The author's somewhat frivolous reason for the boycott, as well as her family's die-hard consumerism makes me think they were not quite cut out for the challenge to begin with. I was appalled at the way the parents, not the children, stated that they needed an inflatable swimming pool and squirt guns. Bongiorni also needs a gadget to make piecrusts. I was also disappointed in her lack of imagination in seeking out alternatives to Chinese products. Why didn't they try to find items second-hand? Or look at handmade items from U.S. crafters to give as gifts? Instead, the author complains about the hours and hours she spends driving from mall to mall. And she was very quick to dismiss the idea of using the computers at the library to print when her ink cartridge ran out. In fact, the Bongiorni's seem to spend a lot of energy trying to find ways around their boycott that they could be using to find creative alternatives to the items they want.

I also got a little tired of reading about how good-looking and perfect the author's husband is. I couldn't help think that this was Bongiorni's attempt at apologizing to him for dragging him into the boycott, which he never seemed truly on-board with.

The book did make me more aware of how much of the stuff we buy comes from China, and with the recent toy recalls it seems looking into alternatives might not be such a bad idea.

[Ciara · Rating 1 out of 5]

i have determined that the folks who write reviews at goodreads are an amazingly charitable group, so the fact that this book has more one-star reviews that five-star reviews really speak volumes. personally, i wish there was some sort of dark limbo available between "it was awful" & "it was okay". because i don't think book was so awful, but it certainly wasn't as good as "okay". call this a 1.5-star review.

the premise: author sara bongiorni is a financial journalist & begins to realize that a huge percentage of the world's imported goods are coming from china. shoes, clothes, toys, electronics, so much is being manufactured in china. & so she wonders if she & her family can go an entire year without purchasing anything that was imported from china. & this is where the book starts to lose me (we're talking like not even three pages in): there's no real reason given for this challenge outside of vague, idle curiosity. this book is a classic example of the kind of "stunt journalism" that has been sweeping the publishing industry recently (& which i can't seem to get enough of, judging by my reading habits), but at least the authors of books like "no impact man" or "not buying it" constructed some kind of political premise for their activities, regardless of how half-baked they may have been. there are interesting reasons to do a no-china challenge--perhaps as a statement against chinese human rights violations? perhaps even specifically in the manufacturing sector? or if that's not your bag, you could take the tea party route & claim you're doing it out of concern for american outsourcing of manufacturing jobs. it could be because you're concerned about quality control, after scares with contaminated pet food & kids' toys covered in lead paint. something. anything! but bongiorni launches into this project with her husband & two young children in tow & absolutely no real justification for any of it, except that she's hoping that her editor might be into adapting it as a story for work.

right off the bat, the family is cutting corners. they decide to start the project on new year's day, so they stock up ahead of time on chinese goods that are soon to be off-limits, like a new coffeemaker. this is a hallmark of stunt journalism: do something for a year & if you could only do it by doing a bunch of prep before that flies in the face of your usual habits, well, who cares, because it's not like you really mean any of it!

but it gets worse. bongiorni doesn't seem to have equipped herself with any tools for finding non-chinese alternatives, & there are certain sectors of cheap consumer goods in the united states where chinese imports dominate, including clothing, shoes, & children's toys. when her son begins to outgrow his chinese shoes & requires a new pair, bongiorni has a hell of a time finding shoes that were not produced in china, though a quick google search for "american-made children's shoes" turned up several options. & that's just american-made! bongiorni has no issue with foreign imports, so long as they are not stamped "made in china". in fact, as the book progresses, it becomes clear that she doesn't even have an issue with chinese imports, so long as they fool her with a tag that says "made in hong kong" or "made in macau". she didn't realize that these places are considered "special administrative regions" of china until like nine months into the project. when she needs a gift for a children's birthday party (or even gifts for her own children, for birthdays or xmas), it doesn't seem to occur to her to make something out of non-chinese materials, or to buy something from a crafter (hello, etsy!). instead, she looks everywhere for cheap plastic toys that are not manufactured in china. & then she feels that she is depriving her children of cheap plastic toys (which she at one point describes as necessities of childhood) because almost all of it is made in china. never mind that there are happy, healthy children who get by without plastic squirt guns from the grocery store.

her guilt becomes so great that she almost has a breakdown over denying her son a plastic light-up halloween pumpkin decoration. she caves & allows him to buy it with his own money, & is then shocked when he loses interest in it after a week. because he's a little kid & little kids lose interest in EVERYTHING after about a week. just ask my "my little sister" doll. i agonized for MONTHS over whether i'd get that doll for the holidays. i was rapturous when i unwrapped it. a week later, it lay forgotten in the back of my closet.

my big issue with this book is that it's founded on a cheap gimmick & the family didn't really seem to learn anything from their experiment. instead of questioning american dependence on cheap chinese imports that enable people to have ten plastic toys instead of two well-constructed wooden or cloth toys, or fifteen flimsy cotton t-shirts instead of three well-made durable cotton shirts, they just tried to substitute goods made in other countries for all the chinese imports to which they'd become accustomed. & then they were disappointed when sometimes those goods were more expensive. americans will rely on cheap chinese imports for as long as americans feel it is their right & duty to consume consume consume--to have ten of everything when two would suffice, & when the rest of the world is making do without. but this concept was completely beyond bongiorni & it made for infuriating, yet tedious, reading.

(& DO. NOT. even get me started on bongiorni's fantasy that perhaps her great-great-great-great-great-great grandfather was chinese, which manifests itself in the occasional dark hair. it was really special that in such a politically vapid book, there was still room for a little blithe missing-the-boat on issues of race. like the part where she was nervous that a chinese american parent who sends his child to the same pre-school as bongiorni's daughter would somehow take offense at the no-chinese imports project. because all chinese people, even those living in the united states, care what YOU buy, right?)

[Shaimaa شيماء · Rating 3 out of 5]

فكرة المقاطعة موجودة وإن اختلفت الأسباب

365 يوما من دون صنع في الصين

جذبنى عنوان الكتاب فالنسخة الالكترونية متاحة على موقع مؤسسة هنداوي.
كنت اتصور أن الصين مهيمنة على العالم العربى فقط وأن الوضع فى أمريكا مختلف، ولكن اكتشفت أن المواطن العادى الأمريكى يستهلك البضائع الصينية رخيصة الثمن، خاصة فى سوق الألعاب والهدايا والأحذية الرياضية والأشياء الخاصة بالأطفال.

الكتاب لطيف عموما وإن كان يميل إلى الملل والتكرار فى بعض الأجزاء وخاصة الأجزاء التى تتحدث عن هدايا الاطفال والكريسماس وكأن عدم وجود لعب اطفال صينية شئ لا يمكن العيش بدونه.
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فى الأول من يناير 2005 شرعت اسرة المؤلفة فى مقاطعة دامت عاما كاملا للمنتجات الصينية، كانت تريد أن ترى ما سيتطلبه الأمر من قوة وإرادة وبراعة، وما إذا كان الأمر ممكنا من الأساس، وهل الصين بحاجه إلى المستهلكين أم هم الذين يحتاجون إليها.

مرت الكاتبة بالكثير من المواقف خلال العام منها ما استطاعت التغلب عليه ووجدت بدائل مصنعة فى أماكن غير الصين، ومنها ما التفت حوله عندما كان الحصول على البديل مستحيلا.

مع الأخذ فى الاعتبار أنها لم تتوقف عن استعمال الأشياء الصينية الموجودة عندها سلفا، كما أنها استثنت ما يأتى به الآخرون من شرط المقاطعة مما يعنى أنها استمرت فى استخدام الأشياء الصينية ولكنها توقفت فقط عن شراء الجديد.

فى نهاية العام فوجئت الكاتبة بموقف زوجها والذى كانت تعتبره الحلقة الاضعف، بأنه استفاد من عام المقاطعة، لقد جعلت تفكيرهم كأسرة أعمق عند عملية الشراء، وتوقفوا عن حمى شراء الأشياء الغير لازمة لمجرد رخص ثمنها، كما توصلت إلى أن الصين لم تكن تهيمن على الكوكب كما تصورت فى بداية المقاطعة، وأن البدائل موجودة مع بعض الصبر والتريث.
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[Books Ring Mah Bell · Rating 4 out of 5]

An easy read on globalization 101.
After reading an article on China’s production of goods for the United States, the author has a thought: to not purchase anything from China for one year. Nothing personal against China, she just wonders if it can be done. She discovers that it’s hard to find toys not made in China (at one point, her 2 year old daughter copies her, picking a box up from a shelf, looking at the bottom and saying disgustedly, “China!” and slams the box back down. Finding shoes for her growing son, nearly impossible. (He walks around with squished toes for awhile)
She quickly learns components to items made in the USA are often made in China and assembled somewhere else. The label, “made of domestic and foreign components” usually meant there was something Chinese lurking in the product.

The author discovers many “American” holidays are mostly Chinese. Halloween? A disaster. She resorts to homemade costumes for her kids. Christmas? Even the candy canes come from China!

This book turned me into a label checker… what an interesting Easter. I think the Easter Bunny profits directly from Chinese goods. I analyzed my son’s “take” from Easter: Puzzle, China. Plastic baseball bat and balls, China. Stuffed Duck, China. Plastic boat toy, China. Easter themed bucket, China. Easter grass for bucket China! Bubble wand, China. I was pleased to find a bottle of super magic bubbles was made in the USA. Crayola markers made in Romania. Pez dispenser and candy. (Made in USA! The package screams, but looking closer, the candy is from Connecticut, and the plastic dispenser was made in Hungary.)

But this is our global economy now, right? In the state I live in, owning a foreign car is a hanging offense. But really, try to get a completely American made car! Our Ford? Assembled in Mexico with an engine made in Japan and parts from the USA. Our Nissan? Made in Tennessee. (with foreign and domestic components, of course)

China is making mad profit while enslaving people and destroying the environment. I see no slowdown for them. People LOVE stuff. People LOVE cheap junk from Wal-Mart. While we roll around in a state of consumer gluttony, another country is making bank.

Just a thought.

[Gail · Rating 1 out of 5]

It doesn't happen often, but there are rare occassions when I can't force myself to finish a book.

This one is one of 'em.

After reading a few other reviews about the book (AFTER I checked it out of the library, of course), I agree with what many others had to say: The concept of going a year (or even six months) without buying goods made in China probably would have been better suited for a long-form magazine article.

Not a book. Especially not one in which the writing (a lot of the time) just feels forced, like the author (an IU journalism grad, BTW) was trying too hard to be funny or witty.

I guess, what it came down to, is not being able to convincingly buy in to a book in which every chapter features a parental freak-out about not being able to purchase a cheap plastic Chinese for a child. BFD, right?

[Mahmoud Aghiorly · Rating 2 out of 5]

هل يمكننا حقٍّا العيش من دون المنتجات الصينية؟ هذا هو السؤال الذي طرحتْه سارة بونجورني في هذا الكتاب , إذ تعهدت هي وعائلتها أن لا تقتني أي منتج صنع في الصين لمدة عام كامل , وكانت تتصور أن الامر في غاية البساطة ولا يعدو كونه خياراً شخصياً , ولكنها و مع مضي الأيام بدأت تكتشف مدى عمق توغل المنتجات الصينية في الاسواق الامريكية , ذلك التوغل كان من العمق لدرجة أن كان من المستحيل إيجاد البدائل في بعض الاحيان حتى إن كان الامر يتعلق بضائع عيد الاستقلال الامريكي , يمكن القول أن هذا الكتاب يدور حول واقع العولمة؛ فهو لا يدور حقٍّا حول الصين وإنما يروي قصة عن الكيفية التي تغيّر بها العالم نتيجة الانفتاح العام في الاسواق ومدى تأثير ذلك ع الشركات والبضائع المحلية , وهذه مأساة مشابهة لما حدث لصناعة الملابس والقطنيات في الدول العربية عندما وصل طوفان البضائع الصينية إلى الأسواق العربية , بصورة عامة لا يمكن إسقاط هذه التجربة ككل على الدول العربية لانها دول غير منتجة في مجالات عدة , فهي لا تشكل مأساة حقيقية لها , إلا فيما يخص بعض المجالات الحرفية والصنعية , ولكن هذه المشكلة تشكل مشكلة حقيقية للدول الأوروبية والامريكية , فهذه البضائع اصبحت تمثل احتلال حقيقي لتلك الدول , فهل يا ترى الانتصار هو إنتصار عسكري فحسب ؟ أم انه انتصار اقتصادي والراية سلمت اليوم للصين بسبب توغل بضائعها في كل مكان ؟ في الختام هذا الكتاب في لبه يحوي فكرة مميزة , الا انه يميل إلى كونه يوميات أكثر من كونه كتاب أفكار و فيه الكثير من التكرار , إذ سجلت فيه الكتابة يوميات معاناتها في البحث عن البضائع بصورة تفصيلة جداً , ورغم أن الكاتبة حاولت ان تقص هذه المعاناة بقالب فكاهي , إلا ان معظم تلك الفكاهة كانت تميل للسخف أكثر من ميلها للفكاهة , تقيمي للكتاب 2/5


مقتطفات من كتاب 365 يوما دون صنع في الصين للكاتبة سارة بونجورني
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إن تدني الأجور والتلاعب في سعر العملة والمساعدات الحكومية تساعد على تفسير احتلال الصين لمكانتها كأكبر منتج في العالم للسلع الاستهلاكية. وكذلك يفعل الإنتاج المحير للعقل من المصانع الصينية التي يمتلك الواحد منها أكثر من ٥٠ ألف عاملسريع ونشيط. ورغم أن ما يصل إلى مليوني أمريكيّ فقدوا وظائفهم أمام المنافسة الصينية، فما زلنا عاشقين لما تبيعه الصين. ويواصل العجز التجاري بين الصين والولايات المتحدة بلوغ ، مستويات قياسية؛ فقد قفز بنسبة ٢٥ بالمائة وأصبح ٢٠١٫٦ مليار دولار في عام ٢٠٠٥ وهو عام مقاطعتنا للمنتجات الصينية
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أحيانا كنت أشعر بالقلق حيال فقدان الوظائف في أمريكا أو التقارير السيئة عن انتهاكات حقوق الإنسان، ولكن السعر تغلّب على الأخلاق في منزلنا.
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لديّ تاريخ رديء فيما يتعلق بالتمسّك بقرارات السنة الجديدة؛ فأنا لم ألتزم بقرار سوى مرة واحدة، وهي السنة التي أخذت فيها عهدا على نفسي بصعود الدّرج كل صباح إلى مكتبي في الطابق الرابع في مكان عملي في ذلك الوقت. لم يكن قرارا كبيرا؛ حيث إنني كنت في العادة أصعد الدرج بدلا من المصعد على أي حال. لم يكن يمثل صعوبة خاصة؛ إذ كان يشبه قرارا بشرب القهوة أو الاستحمام كل صباح. وفي السنوات الأخرى، عندما وضعت نصْب عينيّ التدريب من أجل سباق ماراثون أو حتى ترتيب السرير كل يوم، كانت عزيمتي تنهار بحلول منتصف يناير، في أحسن الأحوال
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سوف أتجنّب البضائع الصينية وسوف أحتفظ بحقيقة أنني أتجنّب البضائع الصينية لنفسي. سوفأهتمّ بشئوني بهدوء كأي مواطن محترم، ولن أغُضب أي شخص بهذا الأمر. سوف أطبق شفتيّ، وأبقيهما هكذا حتى الأول من يناير المقبل.
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أستطيع أن أخبرك، على سبيل المثال، أن متوسط عمر الأفغاني يصل إلى ٤٦ عاما، في حين أن الطاجاكستانيين في الشمال يبلغ متوسط عمرهم ٦٤ عاما. وفقط ٣ من كل ١٠ أفغانيين يستطيعون القراءة، مقارنة بمحبي القراءة في طاجاكستان؛ حيث ٩٨ بالمائة من الناس يعرفون القراءة والكتابة. ولكن أرقام الفقر هي التي توقفني حقٍّا. يبلغ متوسط دخل الفرد في طاجاكستان ١١٠٠ دولار في السنة، أما في أفغانستان، فإن متوسط دخل المواطن العادي يبلغ ٨٠٠ دولار فقط. وقد اكتسبت عادة غريبة؛ عندما أواجه شيئا مثيرا للاهتمام في منشور تسويقي أو واجهة متجر، أجري مقارنة سريعة لسعره مع نصيب الفرد من الدخل في أفغانستان. سروال من الجينز بقيمة ٦٠ دولارا؟ ما يقرب من راتب شهري في أفغانستان. ولحاف بمبلغ ١٥٠ دولارا؟ راتب شهرين. وماذا عن الشطيرة التي طلبتها للتوّ لوجبة الغداء؟ أفضّل عدم التفكير في ذلك. تعدّ عادتي رائعة بالنسبة إلى مهاراتي الحسابية ولكنها تصيبني بالشلل في المركز التجاري. أجد أنني أفقد شهيتي لإشباع الوحش المادي الشرس القابع في داخلي.
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اكتشفت أن بعض شركات صناعة الأحذية الأمريكية الشهيرة لم تعدْ حقٍّا أمريكية، على الأقل إذا كنت تبحث عن مكان صنع أحذيتها، وجميعها في معظم الأوقات تقريبا تصنعها في الصين..
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كان يوجد مئات من صنّاع المصابيح الأمريكيين منذ عقد أو نحو ذلك، منهم ٤٠ أو أكثر في جنوب كاليفورنيا وحدها. واليوم، لا يمكنه ذكر سوى أربعة أو خمسة في البلد بأكمله
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قرأت خبرا مشئوما عن مصير مجموعة ليجو الدنماركية، التي تتكبّد خسائر مالية بينما تنخفض مبيعات لعبة المكعبات البلاستيكية، والسبب على ما يبدو يكمن جزئيٍّا في أن الأطفال في العصر الحديث يجدونها مملة مقارنة بالألعاب الإلكترونية المضيئة. وثمّة منافس كندي ينافس أيضا في هذا المجال. ويتوقّع المحللون أن الشركة الدنماركية سوف تنقل كثيرا من إنتاجها أو كامل إنتاجها إلى مواقع تصنيع أرخص في الخارج، ربما في آسيا، وقد خلصت إلى أنها تعني الصين. إن أهالي بلدة بيلوند في الدنمارك متخمون بالمال؛ فقد جعلتهم ليجو أغنياء. والآن ليجو الصينية ربما تجعلهم فقراء.
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من إساءة الأدب أن أقول للغرباء إنهم سوف يذهبون إلى الجحيم إذا لم يكبحوا جماح إنفاقهم على البضائع الصينية سريعا.
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هل مقاطعة الصين طوال الحياة هي ما أريده حقٍّا؟ لست متأكدة على الإطلاق من ذلك؛ فمن ناحية، كان من المرْضي أن أعرف أن الصين لم تهيمن حقٍّا على كوكب الأرض أو على حياتنا، ليس على نحو تامّ على الأقل، على الرغم من أن هذا ما كان يبدو عليه الأمر في بعض الأحيان، ولا سيما في ممرات الألعاب والأجهزة الإلكترونية وفي متاجر الأحذية. بالطبع لم نعد بعيدين عن الخطر بعد؛ فلديّ إحساس أن الصين ما زالت في بدايات بسط هيمنتها على العالم. ومن ناحية أخرى، لدينا خلاط معطل ودرج مطبخ عالق، وتليفزيون تبهت صورته بسرعة، وجميعها مشكلات تتطلب حلولا صينية. وما زلنا نغلي الماء في الصباح لتحضير القهوة لأننا ليس لدينا آلة لإعداد القهوة، وإذا لم نتخلّ عن المقاطعة، فربما لن نحصل عليها أبدا. كثير من الأشياء الصغيرة في الحياة يأتي من الصين: شموع أعياد الميلاد، والمسدسات المائية، والسيوف المضيئة. وهذه أشياء صغيرة تافهة لا يمكن على نحو مناسب وصفها بأنها مهمة، ولكنني لست متأكدة من أنني أودّ عيش حياتي بأكملها من دونها. ثمّة موضوع مكافحة الحشرات الضارة أيضا؛ فقد سحقنا فأرنا الأخير لهذا العام في ٢٦ ديسمبر. إنني مستعدة للعودة إلى طريقة الاصطياد والإطلاق من أجل القضاء على الفئران، ومن أجل ذلك نحتاج إلى مصيدة فئران رحيمة، وهذه المصائد تصنّع في الصين.
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لا يبدو التخلي عن المنتجات الصينية للأبد أمرا عمليٍّا؛ لأنه قد يعني أننا لن نشتري مرة أخرى هاتفا محمولا، أو مسدس مياه، أو ربما حتى تليفزيونا في أحد الأيام. لا نريد أن نتخلى عن تلك الأشياء إلى الأبد. في الوقت نفسه، قدّمت لنا المقاطعة انضباطا كنا نفتقر إليه في سلوكياتنا الاستهلاكية. كانت تجربة مرْضية؛ فقد جعلت رحلاتنا إلى مراكز التسوق والمتاجر ذات مغزى بطريقة غير متوقّعة، بل ربما مرحة في بعض الأحيان. ومن الناحية المالية، ربما كانت ذات تأثير معادل؛ لأننا أنفقنا أموالا أكثر على بعض الأشياء — هدايا الكريسماس، والنظارات الشمسية — وأموالا أقل على أشياء أخرى مثل الأحذية وحالات الشراء الاندفاعي؛ حيث إن هذه المشتريات في كثير من الأحيان تتضمّن منتجات صينية. وأحببنا توزيع أموالنا بين العدد الكبير من المتنافسين تحت مظلة الاقتصاد العالمي عن طريق شراء بضائع مصنوعة في العديد من البلدان المختلفة، بما في ذلك بلدنا
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[Janelle · Rating 1 out of 5]

I had high hopes for this book, but it really fell flat for me. The author tries to spend one year without buying anything made in China. Fine. I think she told me why she was interested in this at the beginning... but I forgot. The writing is that unmemorable.

I was left feeling annoyed by her whiny family, her inability to explain to them why they were doing this, and her husband's lack of support for the project when he agreed to do it in the beginning. I was uber-annoyed by the family's lack of reflection in terms of changing their lifestyle to mesh with the project. Why was it necessary to spend days shopping for toys not made in China every time the 4-year-old was invited to a birthday party? Either make new friends who aren't so consumeristic, or be creative in your gift-giving. Ticket for museum admission? Something you made yourself? There should have been lots of options besides toys made in Taiwan.

Frankly, I was stunned at the end when they decided to continue with a modified China boycott.

This book was an interesting idea, but the followthrough was beyond disappointing.

[Lain · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was enthralled with the concept of this book -- could an average American family live an entire year without buying anything made in China?

Bongiorini's writing style made what could have been a dry topic on world economics come alive. Her humor and slice-of-life memoir of her family's year was entertaining and a fun, quick read.

However, something was missing -- I was waiting for a big "aha" but instead felt the book was more an exam of greed in a disposable culture than "can we live without China?" Her solution to providing her kids with their hearts' desires (i.e., China-made toys) sat wrong with me -- soliciting toys from friends and family members in order to avoid purchasing them herself seemed to be a little manipulative and not true to the spirit of the boycott.

Missing also was any discussion of the "tainted toys" debacle that occurred at the end of 2007 -- namely because this book was written and published before then. I would love to hear Bongiorni's take on what we're sacrificing when we go with the lowest bidder.

I would give this book 3 1/2 stars if I could. But I'm rounding up just because she was so funny. :)

[Mawa · Rating 4 out of 5]

كتاب خفيف غير دسم، يشرح بتفاصيل واقعية عن تجربة عائلة لمقاطعة المنتجات الصينية لمدة سنة كاملة، من باب التجربة والفضول لاكتشاف تأثير الصين في عالمنا الاستهلاكي.
أنصح به للقراءات الخفيفة.

[Poiema · Rating 3 out of 5]

I should have written this book. Though I have never engaged in a formal boycott of Chinese imports, I have been married to a man who, for 31 years has challenged me to buy American products. This is not because he has a vendetta against China. No, it is rooted in concern for the United States of America, her self-sufficiency, her economic health, and ultimately her sovereignty.

My husband tends to go a step farther than did Sara Bongiorni, who authored the book that tells of her year's experiment. Sara would buy merchandise from any country but China; my husband scouts out American products. While it makes the thrill of the hunt more exciting, it also makes targeted purchases more elusive.

There was the year my son needed a bike. The Preacher spent countless hours scouring the city for the one with a "Made in the U.S.A." logo. He found one. Exactly one. One that had big scratches. One that, sadly, literally fell apart the first time my son rode it. It was almost like being mocked, "Take that for your loyalty!"

Last year, it was the microwave oven that needed replaced. Our city boasts one of the largest appliance marts in the country, so we started at one end of a long avenue of microwaves and worked our way to the other end, confident that we would find the American product we were looking for. The sales clerk followed us each step of the way, proudly enumerating the virtues of each oven. My husband patiently listened to each spiel and then would open the oven door, look for the country of origin, shut the door, and move on to the next one.

I knew what he was doing. The sales woman did not. By the time we came to the last model, my heart was sinking because the chances of my walking out of this place with a new microwave were looking pretty slim. The lady was nearly out of breath, having given us every pitch for every model.

Politely, my husband said, "Ma'am, do you realize that not a single model you have shown us was made in our own country?"

She arched her eyebrows, looking incredulous. Then SHE opened each and every oven door, just to verify his statement.

"I never would have believed it! You're right. I have learned something today," she said as she walked away.

I was glad to have added to her education, but I WANTED A MICROWAVE.

As we were leaving, the Preacher spied an "orphan" microwave around the corner, all by itself. It was a Sharp model and it bore the proud words "Made in the U.S.A."

SOLD!

Sara Bongiorni has a whole year's worth of stories like mine to tell, but she's a better writer and has the knack of making their predicaments sound very funny. I think the fact that both she and her spouse had a sense of humor greatly enhanced their year long experiment as they had to go without Chinese toys for their young children, tennis shoes, seasonal decorating items, and ink cartridges. I laughed out loud several times while reading, feeling our sisterhood on this issue a little too keenly at times.

One incident that was particularly humorous was her husband's inability to find sunglasses. The alternative was an Italian pair for $150---definitely not in the family budget. So this resourceful man dug out his ski goggles and used them. She likened him to a horse with blinders---too funny!

What did this family learn by the end of their boycott? That it's next to impossible to buy electronics, lamps, tennis shoes, even candy canes without patronizing China. That young children are NOT damaged when they are denied cheap, poorly constructed Chinese made toys.
That other alternatives are often available if you take the time to search them out.

How did it affect their finances? Sara figured that many of the items they bought from countries other than China were more expensive. BUT, they saved a lot of money by buying fewer items and passing over the cheap "junk" that is so enticingly displayed at every turn.

This was a fun book with a serious point, and Sara writes with sensitivity. She was very respectful of the Chinese culture, but like me she feels uncomfortable about the power they are attaining over us economically. She didn't try to win others to her way of thinking or act self righteous because of her choices. It was all presented as a grand experiment.

Sara and her husband decided that in the future they would purchase Chinese products when there were no other reasonable options. She felt that they had been sensitized to the alternatives and that the habit of making thoughtless purchases had been broken. This in itself is a sane achievement in these days of economic turn down.

[Christy · Rating 3 out of 5]

For a fluffy, fairly entertaining read of one family's random half-hearted attempt to go without products made in China, this was fine.
As a "true life adventure in the global economy," meh, not so much.
I just don't get the sense that the author really cared as much about her experiment as she did about the fact that she was going to tell us all about it (oh, and about how hot her husband is, don't forget!)
And, this family just buys TOO MUCH STUFF. Flip-flops and a blow-up pool are not the dire necessities she makes them out to be.
It just didn't seem she was trying that hard, either. Oops, the plastic toys are from China, darn, we're screwed.
Not so much.
Meh.

[Elizabeth · Rating 2 out of 5]

I thought the premise of this story was interesting, but that was it. Overall the book was disapointing. The author decided to boycott all things made in china for a year. Her ignorance (not knowing that Hong Kong was a part of China for example) was slightly baffling. She didn't take any action with her experiment and everything she did was on the surface level. Her story could have been an intersting article, but that's it.

[Lilac · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting topic, pretty shallowly done.

She didn't seem to know exactly why she was doing it. I could only assume cause giving something up for a year and writing a book about it is trendy.

Really, giving up Mandarin organges and seeking out crappy toys made by slave labor in pakistan instead just seems, well, dumb.

[الشناوي محمد جبر · Rating 2 out of 5]

كتاب من مفيش
لما تحب تحول بعض يومياتك العادية إلي كتاب ممكن تتعلم من هذه التجربة
سيدة في بيتها قررت فقط أن تتنازل عن المنتجات الصينية لمدة عام وكتبت تجربتها
رغم ان التنازل عن المنتج الصيني صعب الان
إلا أنها نجحت في ذلك
صعوبة التجربة هي ما أعطي للكتاب قيمة

[Fahad Saliem · Rating 3 out of 5]

ألعاب أطفال، أجهزة كهربائية، وأجهزة إلكترونية، وملابس مختلفة بعلامات عالمية، واحتياجات شخصية، وكل ما يمكن تخيله وأكثر يأتي من منشأ واحد، ولن يطول بك التفكير حتى تقرر أنها الصين! التي غزت بصناعاتها كل الأسواق العالمية بل والأسواق المنافسة المباشرة لها، وترى الصحفية الأمريكية [سارة بونجورني] في كتابها (٣٦٥ يوما من دون صنع في الصين) أن التجربة التي خاضتها هي وعائلتها لمقاطعة المنتجات الصينية لمدة عام كامل لم تكن من باب زيادة وعي المواطنين الأمريكيين بأهمية وقف توغل المنتجات الصينية في حياة الفرد الأمريكي أو بسبب التهم المتعلقة بحقوق العمال في المصانع الصينية أو للنظرة العامة للحكومة الأمريكية للسياسات الخارجية للصين، بقدر ما هي تجربة شخصية لها ولعائلتها حيث تحولت هذه التجربة إلى تحدٍ كبير ومحاولة كسب هذا التحدي الذي نقلته لنا [سارة بونجورني] باعتبارها يوميات جادة الطرح أحياناً وساخرة أحياناً أخرى، ولكن ماذا يعني أن لا نشتري منتجا كتب عليه صنع في الصين؟ أو منتجا آخر كتب عليه تم تجميع مكوناته في الصين، أو حتى أي منتج ظهر على غلافه الخارجي صنع في هونج كونج أو مكاو بحكم التبعية الجغرافية للصين فوجب مقاطعتها، كلها تساؤلات وضعت [بونجورني] و عائلتها يتنازلون أو يلتفون على بعض القيود التي وضعتها في البدايات، وقد يتصور المرء أن تجربة [بونجورني] هي تجربة بالمتناول لكل شخص على افتراض أن البدائل للمنتجات الصينية متوفرة، لو ركزنا قليلا أثناء جر عربة التسوق الخاصة بنا، ولكن مع أول يوم لهذا التحدي ستدرك أنك تخوض معركة غير متكافئة من نواحٍ عدة، إحدى تلك المعارك التي لم تستوعبها [بونجورني] هي معركة الأسعار التي تنتصر فيها المنتجات الصينية بلا ضجيج، ومعركة أخرى تنتصر فيها الصناعات الصينية من حيث التنوع في المادة نفسها التي ترغب بشرائها، ثم تأتي إحدى أهم المعارك التي يخسر فيها المستهلك المقاطع وهي معركة سهولة الوصول والحصول على المنتج الصيني الذي يبعد عن عتبة باب منزلك عدة أمتار، وعلى عكس الكثير من المنتجات الأخرى غير الصينية التي تحتاج طلبا مسبقا وشحنا بمبالغ إضافية وهذا كله في حالة توفره بوصفه بديلا للمنتج الصيني، أن هذا المنتج الذي تقدمه الصين لهو بالنهاية انعكاس حقيقي وملموس لواقع وقوة الاقتصاد الصيني، الذي حيثما وليت وجهك في مشترياتك اليومية فثمة وجه الصين، وربما يرى كثير من المستهلكين الذين قدمتهم [بونجورني] في كتابها هذا أن ما قامت به عائلة [بونجورني] من مقاطعة للمنتجات الصينية لعام كامل يعد من الأمور الصعبة في حياة الواقع الاستهلاكي الذي نعيشه باعتبارنا مجتمعات تنظر للسلعة وفق معايير محددة كالسعر، وسهولة الحصول عليها، وتنوع المنتج في المنتج نفسه، وتعترف [بونجورني] وهي على بعد أسابيع قليلة من انتهاء مقاطعتها للمنتجات الصينية بصعوبة الأمر بقولها "...يجب أن أعترف أنني لم أفكر في الأمر كثيرًا، فطالما اعتبرت مقاطعة الصين انفصالا تجريبيا، رحلةً تدوم لعام كامل للحصول على فرصة لالتقاط الأنفاس قليلًا قبل التصالح الحتمي القائم على الراحة لا الحب. قرأت عن أشخاص خرجوا عن قواعد المجتمع وعاشوا في مجمعات سكنية في ولاية إيداهو دون كهرباء أو مياه جارية، ولكن الحقيقة هي أنني لست متأكدةً ما إذا كنت أستطيع أن أتخلى للأبد عن شيءٍ أساسي في الحياة الحديثة مثل البضائع الصينية. لا أستطيع أن أتخيل نفسي أعيش بهذه الطريقة على المدى الطويل. لست متأكدةً من أنني أستطيع أن أرى نفسي أعيش بهذه الطريقة مدة الشهرين والنصف التالية. كانت مدة الأشهر التسعة والنصف الأولى من العام مثيرة بما فيه الكفاية، لكن في هذه اللحظة بدا الكريسماس دون الهدايا الصينية تحت شجرة عيد الميلاد شيئًا بالغ الكآبة شعرت بالإرهاق..." وتبدو كلمات [سارة بونجورني] الماضية بمثابة اعتراف ضمني على صعوبة العيش للأبد بدون الصناعات الصينية التي تتصدر أبسط احتياجاتنا اليومية، ويستطيع أي شخص الآن وهو يقرأ هذه الأسطر أن يلتفت في جميع أنحاء غرفته أو يلاحظ أي مادة قريبة منه وسيجد على ظهرها غالباً عبارة (صنع في الصين). 
فهد الجهوري

[Kyla · Rating 1 out of 5]

This started out as 3-star review (my standard for an "eh" book) but the more I thought about this book, the angrier I got. It should have been a lock: I am kinda obsessed about not buying "Made In China" goods (hard when you are obsessed with Target/have a baby) but I really, really try to avoid it if I can. But this author and her family used NO ingenuity when trying to get around the MIC label - no second hand, no vintage,and worst, no making things themselves. As a result, she constantly rabbits on about how deprived her children are (does her 2 year old REALLY care how many presents are under the tree?) and how mad her husband is that they can't cart home more plastic crap for their kids. Get this: after Hurricane Katrina some donated toys are left behind at a shelter. A neighbor delivers them to her family because she feels so sorry for her children. Boo hoo - one year of German toys, poor dears. I guess kids in the foster system or homeless shelters couldn't use the toys...I hated her whole family by the end. And her writing more.

[Gail · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked this book, but I can't quite decide if other people would like it. At the beginning of the book, I thought that this book might make a better article than an entire book. As it progressed, I liked hearing about her issues with trying to avoid products made in China (especially during holidays and birthdays). It also bothered me at first that the author didn't have a real reason to boycott Chinese items....she just wanted to see if it could be done. But in the same way, I liked that she was at times ambivalent about her boycott and that she did make mistakes throughout the process.

What I really liked about this book was the author's interactions with her family.....how her husband reacted to the boycott during the 12 months and how she addressed the issue with her kids (ie. the meltdown her son had in Target over buying a plastic pumpkin). I especially enjoyed that her family became more thoughtful and intentional about their purchases and they reduced what came into their home. Overall, good book.

[Erin · Rating 4 out of 5]

I taught this book in a critical reading class at a community college. I like how it opened up the minds of my students to learn more about consumerism and globalization in the United States without them necessarily realizing it. The author tells the story of her family's adventures with not purchasing products made in China, but at the same time opens up many avenues of discussion. My students began reporting how many products in their houses came from China; how they weren't boycotting China, but they were suddenly more interested in where what they buy comes from; and they began looking up more about China to learn more about the country we get so many things from. It is not a hard read, but it does make you think.

[Ghufran · Rating 2 out of 5]

الكتاب الاول في سنة 2019
يعرض هذا الكتاب عائلة تخلت عن المنتجات الصينية لمدة عام كامل
فكرة الكتاب مميزة ولكن يصلح فقط كمقال في جريدة او مجلة اقتصادية
تكرار الافكار في الكتاب جعلت منه كتاب ممل الا من بعض الافكار الجيدة
بعض الافكار ليست لها علاقة بموضوع الكتاب ولكن لزيادة عدد صفحات الكتاب لا اكثر
قراءة ملخص عن الكتاب يغنيك عن الخوض فيه
ما اعجبني هو حقيقة ان الصين مسيطرة على الصناعة بشكل كبير و هذا في امريكا فما بالك بالدول العربية
لا انصح به

[karinajean · Rating 2 out of 5]

I didn't care for this author and her family. the kids seemed bratty for NEEDING things, they were constantly shopping and driving from one end of town to the other, they had no discussion on where all the plastic bags they brought their non-chinese goods home in, etc. etc. etc.

[Alicia Gross · Rating 2 out of 5]

It took me a while to make it to 100 pages, and then coincidentally my mother-in-law made a comment about not needing to finish a book if you’re still not into it by 100 pages. I generally like to see books through to the end, but I’m really not feeling it. I admit that I had unrealistic expectations for the book, and the author is clear that there is no ethical reason behind her experiment. Not for the sake of trying to avoid slave labor or to try to help reduce emissions and cut back on consumerism. Her storytelling is entertaining enough, but the lack of meaning behind the experiment and the way that the book just becomes more and more of a way to try to cut corners to get through the year is hard to continue reading. Someone else wrote a review wondering why she didn’t try to find more secondhand- at the time this was written maybe there wasn’t as much opportunity where she lived- consignment, Buy Nothing, Goodwill, etc. But to take on an experiment like this and still blatantly consume regularly for new goods was too much for me to bear with til the end.

[Denice · Rating 2 out of 5]

I have been waiting a really really long time to read this book! It had so much promise, and it was such a disappointment! The author admits upfront that she has nothing against China, and isn't doing a boycott for any political or human-rights agenda. She mentions a few jobs that Americans' jobs are being outsourced, but she doesn't attach any value to it. She basically calls it an experiment. What is disappointing is that she doesn't even TRY to research into anything about factories, human rights, politics, or historical trade with China. I mean, NOTHING! It reminded me of someone just struggling to keep a vegan diet for a year.

By not bringing up anything related to China, and blabbering on and on about her trips to the store and face offs with her husband and kids, you just come to realize that she only seems to care about what others think of her and doesn't even pay attention to her real problem- which seems to be rampant consumerism to fill some sort of void. And it seemed like she was ALWAYS trying to buy toys for her kids and failing to satisfy them, would just promise to make it up to them AFTER the year was over, which just seems like it defeats the purpose of her Made in China diet.

And although her early descriptions of her handsome and laid back husband seemed anecdotal, at one point she goes on and on about how indignant it is for him to wear old mismatched flip flops (because they can't find any non-Chinese) which he is totally okay with by the way, just goes to show that she is just as shallow as her little experiment (which included suggesting friends and family buying the Chinese things they couldn't find non-Chinese replacements for). She only attempts three times to make homemade things like costumes for her kids, whereas her husband tries to make them sleeping bags from scratch. As she laments about how the majority of holiday decorations and toys in the big box stores are all from China, she takes absolutely no time to reflect on whether any of the stuff is NECESSARY, and whether she should focus more time on the quality of relationships with her kids and husband rather than trying to pacify them with toys and postponed gratification all the time.

[Trena · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sarah Bongiorni and her family decided to go a year without buying anything labeled "Made in China." This is not, as she readily acknowledges, the same thing as not buying anything made in China because so many components are manufactured there and assembled elsewhere, and food and drug items are not always labeled with their country of origin. It was not a sophisticated plan, but a simple consumer experiment--which is what I appreciated about it. Much like No Impact Man, this is about a regular person with regular person resources and education trying what turns out to be a radical experiment.

The resulting book is an enjoyable, engaging read about adventures in an American store trying to find non-China (labeled) goods, and it's not easy. Some things simply are not available from anywhere else, such as televisions, coffee makers, and printer cartridges and they just had to live without them. Some things they were forced to use their gift exception to indirectly acquire. And mostly it required a lot of work, running around, and label reading.

Many reviewers have criticized this book for not having a broader social commentary or a more sweeping examination of the world's manufacturing practice, but I think that is its strength. Most of the garbage books I've read merely conclude that there is nothing the average consumer can do, since 95% of waste is generated in the pre-consumer process. So you get educated, but frustrated. This shows what a real consumer can and can't do, a single tree within the forest of statistics and industrial history. It's a perspective that is easier to relate to, and helps you become more thoughtful on your own micro level.

[Kathryn · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book was truly disappointing. The premise of the book: Sara Bongiorni chronicles her family's experiences eschewing goods made in China for an entire year. In order for this concept to work, Ms. Bongiorni should have interspersed her own experiences and observations on the difficulty of avoiding Chinese-manufactured projects with some solid analysis of China's role in the global economy. Had she done so, there might have been some value or substance to her book. However, what she has produced is a rather whiney and uninteresting account of a year in the typical suburban family's life. This book is like reading the diary of a very nice, but very uninteresting friend. Why bother?

As an aside, the Bongiorni family's solution to evading the pitfalls of "Made in China" is to create rules for their family in which it becomes okay to simply ask other family members for "gifts" of Chinese-made products, or to simply buy products from other third world countries with appallingly lax labor laws. She virtually ignores the fact that the internet now provides consumers with LOADS of truly made-in-the-usa items- not to mention farmers markets and other local businesses. While heaping platitudes upon herself for martyring herself for this project, Ms. Bongiorni never once addresses the true problem of American consumerism- the lure of cheap merchandise from big box stores. As such, her vapid attempts to find plastic halloween decorations at Target that are NOT made in China just miss the mark... as does the book itself.

[Koren · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is about a family that tried to live a year without buying anything made in China. As they learned, it is not an easy thing to do. This is written in 'blog style' so it was a bit of a disappointment that there were not any facts or statistics about the effect of buying foreign goods. I thought this book was lacking in a lot of ways. For one, I was wondering why Chinese goods were singled out but it was ok to buy any other country, so if you couldn't buy a product from China it was ok to buy it from Taiwan or Japan. I also found it frustrating that if they really, really needed something and couldn't find anything that wasn't made in China it was ok to have someone else buy it and give it to them as a gift. The thing I found the most frustrating was that the children seemed to get an awful lot of toys. At times the family was resourceful and would make something. I would have liked to have seen the possibility of buying at second hand shops and garage sales explored. This book is ok if you take it for what it is...a blog of a family trying something but not really wanting to 'suffer' too much.

[Brooke Hembree · Rating 2 out of 5]

Interesting premise, flawed execution. I love the idea of cutting out Chinese made products and I have no doubt that it can be done, but I was disappointed with this book. The reasons for avoiding products that were "Made in China" were weak ("It's an experiment!" "China is too big and other people should have a turn to make things) and I was frustrated that the project didn't really seem to change any underlying attitudes. Several months into the experiment, Bongiorno breaks down and buys her child cheap Chinese decorations because she realized that he was "suffering" because of not getting new toys. I was also hoping for a more thoughtful discussion of the issues that go into avoiding Chinese made goods, but everything in the book seemed pretty fluffy. Overall, it was a pretty big disappointment, but I'd love to find a better book or a blog written by someone else trying to reduce the amount of Chinese made products they buy.

[Heather · Rating 1 out of 5]

The positive: interesting to understand how much is made in China.

Some of the negatives:
-condescending tone. Seems awfully full of herself throughout the book. Makes fun of people a lot, strangers.
-at times it didn’t even seem like she tried that hard to stick with the boycott. Very little research, lots of bending the rules (to the point of putting her family in uncomfortable situations), never tried thrift stores or a good Google search. Lots of looking at stickers in stores but no real out of the box attempt.
-an abnormally high amount of condescending references to “fat people”
-a feeling of a lack of tact that seems somewhat borderline racist
-no real point to the challenge or lessons learned
-lots of general complaining, about her husband, about him not buying her perfume and jewelry for Christmas, on and on
-didn’t even touch on the subject how many people would not have the financial means to boycott China.

[Kerry · Rating 1 out of 5]

Of all the good reasons to pick from to boycott products from China for a year - humanitarian, political, economical, environmental - this woman went with the lesser known important reason, curiosity! She was apparently curious as to whether or not a consumer driven, uncreative, ethically empty woman, such as herself, could survive the challenge of forcing her family to go without the needless, trivial things that humans all over the world wouldn't even know existed. A whole chapter was devoted to finding plastic easter eggs for the kids to hunt - HELLO - have you ever seen a REAL egg? Children know what we give them, if we don't give them needless junk then they won't expect it. They might even learn to appreciate and respect what they do have, and focus more on what they can do to make the world a better place for everyone - not just themselves.

[Katya · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book is about a family struggling to go a whole year without purchasing anything manufactured in China. The trouble that Made in China merchandise is everywhere - try to buy something at Target.... Fun, quick read and sparked interest for learining more about the topic.

[Melissa (Semi Hiatus Until After the Holidays) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting concept, surprising at how very difficult this is to do! After a while, it just got boring. Might have been better as a magazine article.