7/22/2006: Shaoguan shoes
 

http://cellar.org/2006/shaoguanflood.jpg

The Chinese town of Shaoguan has had a really bad flooding problem. Hundreds of people died. That's the sad part. The interesting IotDish part is this:

http://cellar.org/2006/shaoguandryingslippers.jpg

Thousands upon thousands of shoes and slippers were put in the sun to dry.

i hate wearing wet shoes and socks.

That's a lot of very colorful shoes, especially red. If this happened in the U.S. they'd be 99% white, brown, and black.

Drying out dead peoples shoes... GREAT :greenface

The thing I wanna know is, what is going to happen to all those shoes once they're dried out?

Does every shoeless person have to tiptoe through the thousands and thousands of mostly identical shoes trying to identify theirs? Could they just pick a pair that fits and walk away? Is there going to be a huge yard sale for used, sun-dried shoes and slippers? Has this happened before and now everyone knows to have their name clearly written on the sole of their slippers?

I'm just curious.

Stormie

I bet there is a shoe factory there, and these are new shoes.

I had the same thought. ;)

I'd be careful about buying Chinese shoes next spring, then ... not as big a deal as checking dealership of origin on car purchases six months after a flood here in the U.S., but wearability will be affected by the soaking.

my shoes are still cooler.

http://img467.imageshack.us/img467/4180/chucks9oe.jpg

Except mine have rainbow shoelaces.

Wasn't there another story in the news sometime this year about a ship that lost it's cargo, a shipment of new shoes, and they mostly landed on the coast of France? Maybe it's something like that. But notice how NEATLY they are all arranged! Now that took some time!

The Chinese, I think, are known for their patience (willingness to keep at a project for 1800+ years qualifies) and also for their immense population. They have the time and the manpower to do pretty much anything.

Chuck Taylor must be up to about 200 rpm, in his grave. :whofart:

Good for him... I hate chucks, honestly, but I couldnt find any other cool, colourful shoes.

Oh shit, the '80s ARE back.

Do you have Plaid Vans, too? This is so *awesome.* :)

Never mind, I missed the part about not being able to find other colorful shoes. Just got a little too excited, there.