Anyone who has children will know how difficult it can be to keep them entertained (and therefore well behaved) on long car journeys.
‘I Spy’ and other traditional games don’t quite cut it these days as in-car entertainment, they seem only to keep shouts of ‘I’m bored’ at bay for a few minutes!
Thankfully there are now alternatives to ‘Count the Ford Fiestas’ and such games. Take a look at these headrest DVD players.
With music, videos, games + headphones they are almost guaranteed to give endless fun - motorway journeys will never be the same again!
So the new Standard
and Basic Membership system went live at the end of last month. Whew!!! It has been such a stressful time, so much to take care of!
Happily it went without a hitch and the number of Standard members is rising (more slowly than we would have hoped but we’ll give it time).
Just to recap on the differences, Standard members (they pay a small membership fee) can post up to 50 Sell Trade Leads, 50 Products, unlimited Buy Trade Leads and unlimited Partner Trade Leads, have an extended company profile including more contact details. They can also post Documents and appear higher in lists and search results. It all serves to make their company and products a lot more visible to Buyers and, we all hope, will help increase the volume of international trade these members enjoy.
For the time being Basic members can post 2 Sell Leads, 1 Partner Trade Lead, Unlimited Buy Trade Leads, 2 Products and a Company Profile. This subscription level is free and is really aimed at Buyers.
Those of you who are considering subscribing might be interested to know we’re running a promotion until the end of this month - 33% off the first quarter’s membership fees!
I bought some goji berries yesterday (I’m such a sucker for the latest health fad!). But they were really expensive, £2.75 for 75g of dried berries, can you imagine that?
Goji berries are apparently the most nutritionally rich fruit on the planet - high in amino acids, trace minerals, carotenoids, vitamin C, B vitamins, vitamin E, polysaccharides - you name it.
They grow in many parts of the world, you might know them as wolf berries, but most commercial production these days is in China. The berries are scarlet red in colour, are about 1 - 2 cm long and slightly sweet to taste.
All manner of claims are made as to their health giving benefits, goji berries are said to have anti-oxidant properties, improve circulation, enhance liver function, improve eyesight, boost the immune system and many others. So many health benefits that I’m seriously considering making these berries a regular part of my diet.
I had a quick look on the trade portal, there’s a range of health, agricultural and food products but nobody seems to be selling goji berries specifically. I wonder if anyone would be willing to sell in reasonably small quantities?
Take a quick scan through the trade leads and you’ll notice the large number of Chinese companies selling shoes - mainly sports shoes with big brand names. Here’s one such trade lead.
I couldn’t help thinking about them whilst I read ‘A Concise Chinese-English Dictionary For Lovers‘, a book that’s recently been published, written by a Chinese woman - Xiaolu Guo.
It’s a romantic comedy about a young lady whose parents run a shoe factory in China. She’s sent to England to learn English and we get an amusing look at how she grapples with the differences in language, custom and her new found sexual freedoms. Well worth a read.
It’s Spring Festival time, the Chinese New Year - Xin Nian Kuai Le!! Gong Xi Fa Cai!!
The Year of the Pig is supposed to be a good one in which to have babies, any child born this year will, according to custom, be happy, honest, hardworking and lucky.
What have our traders got to offer any fortunate couple? We’ve picked out three products:
Moses Basket
This delightful basket is from a trader in China. The unit measures 82cm x 35cm x 25cm (L x W x H). It is lined with sweet waffle and a check fabric that comes in different colours.
Crystello is a computerised and digitised hot and cold water purifier from Lebanon. It can be used for preparing milk for new-born babies.
Take Note
There is significant world trade in babies’ garments and clothing accessories. In 2005 over $4.5 billion of these goods were imported into countries around the world. The top 5 importing nations were the USA, China/Hong Kong, UK, France and Germany.
