It's Gotta to Be the Shoes

OSPOP's Web site in China. (Photo of screen by kou)

From the Guangzhou Opera House to the Guangzhou Twin Towers to the Guangzhou TV and Sightseeing Tower, Chinese construction workers are not only redefining Guangzhou's skyline, but they're also doing it in fine fashion. Their shoes are so stylish that they're being sold online by American entrepreneur Ben Walters. In the New York Times' Magazine column, Consumed, Rob Walker describes how Walters' company, OSPOP, sells the rubber-soled shoes for 75 USD in the U.S., whereas they're only 2 USD in China. Walters defends the price disparity, saying it's "an unavoidable consequence of the quality improvements and giving the Tianlong factory workers overtime pay and vacation time." As far as I know, "overtime pay" and "vacation time" are both mandated by Chinese law. (Note that part of the revenue is reportedly donated to students in Wen County.) I thought I'd check out the company's Web site, ospop.com, to compare OSPOP's version to the common construction worker version--to see what the additional 73 bucks were for. When I clicked the link from Walker's article, however, all I got was this lousy message: "Sorry this site is not available in your country access code." (And that's not the Great Firewall.) If it's all legitimate, why block the site from those of us living in China?