On May 22, during a violent storm of rain, hail, and freezing temperatures. The Chinese government responded on Wednesday on ultra races in the country, as well as 鈥渘ewly popular sport activities that involve high risk,鈥� like听wingsuit flying. As the Chinese Communist Party (CCP)听has only just begun its investigation, it鈥檚 unclear which outdoor sports the latter category will include, but the details will be important. Depending on the length and range of the ban, the decision could stifle听the growth of outdoor adventure sports in China, which have exploded over the past decade, especially among the growing Chinese middle class. Ultrarunners across the globe are worried about the future of the sport in the country.听鈥淭here is something truly special about moving through the world under your own power,鈥� says ultrarunner Mike Wardian, who has competed in several events in China.听鈥淚 am so sad for the athletes and their families and the race organizers who won鈥檛 be able to compete in this way.鈥�

I鈥檝e been covering 听for years, and for those familiar with the Chinese ultrarunning scene, the tragedy wasn鈥檛 all that shocking.听There is an enormous range of quality, safety standards, and planning at Chinese races, and many outdoor athletes there are still learning to manage weather risk in the mountains more cautiously. The government response hasn鈥檛 been surprising, either: the CCP听tends to respond to civic tragedies with blunt, outright bans rather than nuanced reform, and that鈥檚 exactly what they鈥檝e done this week.

The Chinese central government in Beijing is often unaware of unregulated booms occurring in distant provinces鈥攊n this case, running鈥攗ntil something bad happens. Then the Party cracks down.听Political scientists use the wonky term 鈥溾�澨齮o describe this dynamic of in China, but I鈥檝e always thought an ancient Chinese proverb does the job better: 鈥淗eaven is high, and the emperor is far away.鈥� Though the Chinese running boom had been expanding for decades across distant mountains with the enthusiastic support of local officials, the central government wasn鈥檛 always aware of the growth or its potential dangers. Until now.

But what about China鈥檚 runners, who number in the tens of millions? Will races and other outdoor sports ever come back for them? Here, the CCP faces a more complicated problem. Since China 听but not its political system听in the 1970s, the CCP has maintained an informal agreement with its citizens:听in exchange for continued one-party authoritarian rule, Chinese people have been allowed greater immediate personal freedoms in areas of civic life like recreation, which have been widely explored. 鈥淪ports give you self-confidence. They make you healthier. They make you happier,鈥� 53-year-old Chinese runner听Yu Yan听told me a few years ago after finishing an ultra.

Banning something like a popular outdoor sport, however, crosses this line of personal freedom, which makes this response from the CCP so unnerving. Such violations have been under President听Xi Jinping. For听ultrarunners and organizers in China,听seeing a similar intrusion into a hobby like running is especially troubling. Most in the Chinese ultra scene听would agree that outdoor adventure sports need to be made safer in China, but permanently banning the sport鈥攚hich has provided a space for individualism, adventure, and freedom in people鈥檚 daily lives鈥攚ould be a shame. 鈥淩unning is a way of spreading enthusiasm, solidarity, and ability among people,鈥� said one runner听who worried about the government鈥檚 coming response to the tragedy. 鈥淚 think a better way to deal with it is for organizers to improve infrastructure and various measures of safety.鈥�

A ban would also endanger the income that commercial racing has provided to many Chinese athletes who have fled the harsh Soviet . 鈥淚 have a friend who鈥檚 got a wife, two small kids, and parents. He left the sports system to make money racing,鈥� Qi Min, a top Chinese runner, once told me. If commercial racing disappears, runners trained in听sports academies with little other education听won鈥檛 have the same avenues to make a living. Given these realities and the popularity of running in the country,听CCP leaders will likely feel public pressure to allow ultra events again, and听after a while, local officials may lobby to bring back races for all the fanfare they bring听to their cities.

It would be a mistake, however, to frame all questions surrounding the oversight of adventure sports as being unique to China. Regulation of adventure sports has always been suspect to many outdoor athletes, and even infrastructure that makes races safer can be viewed with skepticism. 鈥淲ith this sport becoming more mainstream, with more people than ever getting involved, the risks are greater and we are more likely to see adverse outcomes,鈥� Nathan Montague, a British ultrarunner who鈥檚 raced in China, told me. 鈥淪o both race directors and organizers have a greater degree of responsibility to negate these risks and protect these individuals from themselves. But ultimately, the duty of responsibility needs to be taken by the athlete.鈥�

When I reported on the top-flight medical team that provided support to the Ultra Gobi, another premier event in China, some athletes viewed the extra support as a luxury, even a bit overblown. Ultras can鈥檛 ever fully guarantee safety, some pointed out, and athletes can鈥檛 ever be entirely free without being allowed to take risks. 鈥淚 really love that in the U.S. most races don鈥檛 have requirements,鈥� Wardian says. 鈥淭he race might suggest stuff, but it鈥檚 up to you. It鈥檚 a free country, and it鈥檚 your choice.鈥� He added that diversity in race regulation is probably a good thing. 鈥淓urope is more strict with mandatory kits and certifications. I like both, it鈥檚 just different.鈥�

In any case, an outright ban will likely be self-defeating. In the absence of formal races, Chinese athletes will keep venturing into the mountains,听but with even less oversight. One can only hope that the CCP will acknowledge this reality and devise more thoughtful reforms than bans. 鈥淚t is impossible to remove risk in the mountains,鈥� Wardian says. 鈥淭hey don鈥檛 ban surfing if someone听drowns.鈥�

The post China Just Banned All Ultra Races and Extreme Sports appeared first on 国产吃瓜黑料 Online.

On Saturday,听 during the fourth annual Yellow River Stone Forest Park 100K, a听race held in Gansu, China. The weather turned bad about 15 miles in and more than 6,000 feet above sea level, after the leading runners left the second checkpoint and started an exposed 3,000-foot climb. Suddenly, the route was hammered with a mess听of freezing rain and hail, and temperatures plummeted to near听freezing at higher elevations.

鈥淎t the bottom of the mountain there was already wind and rain, and the higher you climbed the bigger the rain and wind got,鈥� blogged Zhang Xiaotao, a racer who survived the storm. 鈥淗alfway up, the rain started to mix with hail and kept smashing into my face, and my eyes started getting obscured and blurry. A few places, you couldn鈥檛 make out the route clearly.鈥� Another racer he came across on the trail, he wrote, 鈥渉ad begun to shake all over his body.鈥�

Runners found themselves stranded between the second and third checkpoints without warm clothes. Many tried to use space blankets (which they were required to carry),听and some were able to shelter in a cave, but dozens fell on the treacherous terrain or lost their blankets in the wind and passed out from exposure. Some survived long enough for help to arrive, but 21 did not.听, a 1,200-person search and rescue operation was launched for all听172 of the race participants, but local authorities couldn鈥檛 save everyone.听

One of the victims was Liang Jing, a top Chinese ultrarunner. I got to know him in 2018,听while reporting a story on the medical team at the 248-mile Ultra Gobi in western China, a race听that he won. He was among the toughest athletes I鈥檇 ever seen. One night, temperatures fell into the twenties, and when I woke up in my tent the next morning, my water bottle was frozen solid. As I found out听later, Liang听kept running through it all. He was too tired to pack away his yellow sleeping bag, so he wedged it through the loops of his backpack, above his waist, and for the rest of his run, the ends flopped behind him like deflated wings. A day later, we were sharing beers and talking about his adventure.听

For a runner like Liang to lose his life, conditions must have been truly horrendous. But among those familiar with the Chinese endurance-racing scene, a tragedy like this isn鈥檛 seen as especially surprising. I鈥檝e written about China for the past ten years, including听, and in the aftermath of the Gansu disaster, most of the WeChat messages I received from China expressed sadness, not shock. Over the past decade, tens of millions of people鈥攑erhaps even hundreds of millions, depending on which Chinese running expert you ask鈥攈ave taken up the sport. I鈥檝e heard estimates that as many as 3,000 long-distance races are held annually in China, ranging from shoddy events sponsored by local governments to听Ultra Trail du Mont Blanc鈥揵randed competitions.

Because there aren鈥檛 enough experienced organizers to run all these races safely, responsible preparation and oversight鈥攊ncluding contingency planning for bad weather鈥攊s absent at many events. 鈥淚 think what is happening is that there is a lot of enthusiasm for mountain sports, and now the demand is outstripping the supply of expertise,鈥� said one organizer, who asked not to be named, given the likely coming crackdown on races.

One reason why races outpace resources in China is politics. Party officials, who are often called cadres in China, are promoted based on economic development in their region, and large cultural projects鈥攊ncluding recreational events鈥攅arn them bonus points from higher-ups. As a result, marathons and ultra races have become a favorite pursuit for many officials. (At the Gansu race, the mayor of the city hosting the event听shot off the starting pistol.) They bring tourism and media coverage, and cadres can highlight them on their r茅sum茅s. Politicians see other countries hosting competitions and, not to be outdone, organize their own, sometimes one-upping each other by increasing race distances and elevation gains. Every county in China now seems to host a race, and organizers from the country鈥檚 entrepreneurial class have risen quickly to chase after government and sponsor contracts.听

This has led to a dramatic range of quality at trail-running competitions. The Ultra Gobi that听I covered had regular medical checkpoints staffed by doctors, and both foreign and Chinese athletes were impressed by the race support and organization. There were still blind spots when it came to听safety, but medical help wouldn鈥檛 have been far away had someone become听hypothermic on the trail. This hasn鈥檛 been the case at other events, however. In my reporting, I鈥檝e often heard stories of participants becoming hopelessly lost at high elevations, without any volunteers, medical support, or guidance to be had. Any sudden change in weather could have spelled disaster in such听situations.

When I asked organizers about the potential for something like this to occur, they frequently told me the question was when, not if, a tragedy would happen. Getting lost isn鈥檛 uncommon in ultras around the world, nor is bad weather, and the tragedy in China听 whether ultra running has grown too extreme in general. But races in China often lack basic preparation.

Both foreign and Chinese organizers brought up these issues in the aftermath of last weekend鈥檚 race, pointing out that runners听 to carry sleeping bags and warm clothes, which听some other competitions insist on. 鈥淪ome events only focus on financial results and are unwilling to make investments in safety,鈥� said听 posted last weekend by Paopao Wang, a popular Chinese running app. 鈥淪ome companies who undertake [these races] are completely unprepared in their ability to organize high-risk sports and spend the necessary resources.鈥澨�

Such inconsistency in quality and planning is typical for developing countries that are growing adventure sports to appeal to a growing middle class, but China鈥檚 progress has been especially uneven. Wei Jun, a former sports bureaucrat who now organizes private races, told me a few years ago that only about 10 percent of organizers survive the business, and听that new ones鈥攎any with no experience鈥攔eplace them immediately. 鈥淪o you have races that are run very well. Others are disastrous,鈥� he said.

On top of that, as Chinese athletes have honed their endurance, respect for unpredictable weather hasn鈥檛 always caught up, and organizers often fail to set boundaries in the mountains. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a crash course in mountain culture,鈥� said the organizer who asked not to be named.听鈥淲hat is happening is that you have this natural let鈥檚-get-it-done听attitude, but people refuse to believe that weather will change.鈥� He added that听in the 1970s, when mountain sports were growing in Korea, tragic accidents were common there, too.听

Several race organizers told me on WeChat that they hope the Gansu disaster will serve as a wake-up call. Whether the Chinese government will react thoughtfully is another question. When a civic tragedy strikes, authorities tend to respond bluntly, often by shutting down an enterprise entirely rather than reforming it. Once, when I worked at a Chinese high school, someone drowned in the campus pool, and the administration responded by banning swimming and removing the pool. In the aftermath of last weekend鈥檚 events, authorities may take a similar approach, eliminating races rather than making them safer with听investment and alpine education for organizers.

This appears to be happening already. An investigation by the Chinese Communist Party鈥檚 Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, the same body that investigates high-profile corruption cases and purges officials, is already looking into Gansu. Yesterday, in a sign that the dominoes have begun to fall, one of the largest state-run organizers, XTrail, canceled a major race at Kansas Lake in Xinjiang鈥檚 Altai Mountains, and local governments have already begun calling off marathons.

Reform is desperately needed, but a harsh crackdown would be a huge hit to the burgeoning community of endurance athletes in China. Within the country鈥檚 authoritarian system, running has blossomed into a cherished space for individualism, freedom, and risk-taking, and it鈥檚 also brought competitors together from across the world. At the Ultra Gobi, a day after the top finishers had slept off their exhaustion, I found myself chatting with Liang and Zhao Jiaju, the second-place finisher, in a hotel courtyard. Later听some of the foreign runners joined the conversation, and I helped translate. The group swapped stories from the race, laughing with their competition and sampling cheap Chinese beer. It felt like a meaningful moment鈥擟hinese athletes are often rendered faceless to their Western competitors. Endurance events in China have the potential to create countless similar moments, but not if organizers can鈥檛 be trusted to prevent reckless tragedy.

The post Why the Ultra-Race Tragedy in China Wasn鈥檛 Surprising appeared first on 国产吃瓜黑料 Online.

鈥淛ust trust me鈥� book recommendations are great: you already know that a friend or another听reader with good taste loved it, and it鈥檚 best to dive in without knowing a lot of details. I鈥檇 guess that translated books have among the highest 鈥渏ust trust me鈥� hit rates. Publishers usually decide to release a work in additional languages only when it鈥檚 gotten an amazing response in its original language听or when the author has already gained plenty of praise and fans. These three newly translated titles seem to prove the point. They and their writers are already beloved, and now it鈥檚 English-speaking听readers鈥� turn to get on board. These three books鈥攖wo novels and one nonfiction travelogue鈥攅ach take a very different approach to exploring the natural world, but all happen to be as playful as they are philosophical. Bonus points if you can read any in their original Chinese, Spanish, or French鈥攐r set it as your aspiration for knocking out those Duolingo sessions.

鈥楢merican Delirium,鈥�听by Betina Gonz谩lez, translated by Heather Cleary

In the middle of Argentine writer Betina Gonz谩lez鈥檚 , a wry older narrator named Beryl Hope reflects on death: 鈥淚n that final moment, most people look around and are certain they鈥檝e forgotten something. Hard to put into words. I鈥檇 say it鈥檚 life itself.鈥� Part of regaining that feeling of a life well lived, to Beryl, would appear to be training fellow senior citizens to hunt down murderous deer.听听

Beryl lives in a fictional midwestern city听where killer bucks have been terrorizing the populace听and a lot of people have started dropping out of society and heading to the woods. A听much more complicated story is gradually revealed through three alternating narratives. In addition to Beryl, there鈥檚 a taxidermist named Vik, who鈥檚 dealing with a home intruder and chronic pain, and a girl named Berenice, whose florist mother has suddenly abandoned her. It turns out that the deer have been consuming a fictional drug called albaria, which comes to play a crucial role in the plot鈥攚e learn that people have also been taking it in what may best be described as an attempt at psychological rewilding.听

As loony as it is, American Delirium鈥�s funniest moments are its most commonplace. Protests form after a woman kills a suspicious deer in her garden: 鈥淕roups of young people marched in front of the Fish and Wildlife offices with signs demanding the maximum sentence (a fine and two months of community service).鈥� The novel is fast-paced, but Gonz谩lez is fastidious in tying together every character and almost-missable detail by the end. It manages to be an ode to taxidermy and botany, a meditation on aging, a tongue-in-cheek look at how we romanticize the wilderness, and, as the title suggests, a reflection on the delusions of modern life.

鈥榃inter Pasture,鈥� by Li Juan, translated by Jack Hargreaves and Yan Yan

Chinese journalist Li Juan lives in the Xinjiang region of China in the Altay prefecture, a mountainous, arid landscape that shares a border with Mongolia, Russia, and Kazakhstan. Her writing, which has been popular in the country听for years, often focuses on the plains and the lives of nomadic people who reside听there.听 has been out in Chinese听since 2012, but it鈥檚 Li鈥檚 first book to be released in the United States.听In it, Li recounts months spent traveling with a man named Cuma and his family, who are Kazakh nomadic herders, to their winter grazing lands. Li knows the family because they often pass through the town and owe her family money; if they let her come along, she鈥檒l cancel their debt and help out with the hard work. She gradually learns how to wrangle camels and clean out sheep pens听but generally positions herself as an almost slapstick-level klutz of an outsider. 鈥淎 herder typically chooses a pair [of boots] two sizes larger than usual to allow room for two extra pairs of socks,鈥� she says, before admitting that she inexplicably chose to pack a pair of boots eight sizes too big. 鈥淎s a result, I had to wear more socks than anyone had ever worn.鈥� Li tends to swing from witty self-deprecation to solemn wonder at her companions鈥� know-how and their dramatic, bleak surroundings. 鈥淏efore the sun emerges, the whole world is a dream, the only real thing is the moon,鈥� she writes of early mornings spent traveling toward the next camp on the way to the pasture. 鈥淎fter the sun emerges, the whole world is real, only the moon fades into a dream.鈥�

There鈥檚 subtext to keep in mind. For years, the Chinese government has been persecuting predominantly Muslim minority groups in Xinjiang, including Uighurs and Kazakhs, sending an estimated 1 million people to . Though she was traveling with a Muslim Kazakh family, Li never addresses these dynamics explicitly. But she often mentions that she may be witnessing the last years of this nomadic lifestyle: government officials have put pressure on the herders to stop 鈥渙vergrazing,鈥� a development听that Li guesses is related to recent grassland restoration policies. She never says as much, but many of those policies aimed at displacing nomadic herding families from their land. Li hints often at disagreeing with the establishment: 鈥淏alancing the livestock with the grass had long been a basic principle of pastoralists, their age-old creed,鈥� she writes. Later, she wonders, 鈥淲ouldn鈥檛 such an abrupt end be traumatizing and disorienting to these people鈥檚 souls?鈥� It鈥檚 clear that Li holds deep admiration for her travel companions and a helpful awareness of her outsider status. Her travelogue isn鈥檛 some astonished, anthropological view of a vanishing way of life; it鈥檚 a raucous and thoughtful adventure that she knows she is lucky to have been on.

鈥楾he Ardent Swarm,鈥� by Yamen Manai, translated by Lara Vergnaud

Yamen Manai鈥檚 third novel,听and his first to be听translated into English, could stand on its own for its immersive descriptions of animal life. Protagonist Sidi is a beekeeper in the fictional North听African village of Nawa, and it鈥檚 clear that Manai spared no effort to depict bees in the most affectionate, lush, and well-researched terms possible. 鈥淰illagers often found themselves nose to nose with a forager bee that, after writhing haphazardly among the flower pistils, had ended up swathed in various pollens: apricot yellow, apple-tree white, cherry-tree green, and rosemary pinkbeige,鈥� he writes. One day, Sidi finds that听thousands of his bees have fallen victim to a violent death at the hands (tarsal claws?) of non-native wasps. Around the same time, strangers visit the village, calling themselves the 鈥淧arty of God鈥� and bribing residents for votes in the country鈥檚 first democratic election. Sidi has had more exposure than his neighbors to the corrupting power of money听and soon becomes a vigilante in both political and apiary terms, journeying to a nearby city to find answers about what鈥檚 going on with his hives and his village.听

Manai is originally from Tunisia, which is where the first Arab Spring protests started听in late 2010听and was the only country that started a transition to a democratic government afterward. He leans into the obvious parallels between the inner workings of a bee colony and human power struggles听in order to grapple with globalization, colonialism, and the possibilities of collective action. And he pulls it off without making the premise feel contrived, offering deep observations that you鈥檇 never know were really about bees. At one point, making a horrified connection between the Party of God and the killer wasps, Sidi thinks,听鈥淥nce again, man, in search of land, gave the plague to his fellow man in the folds of his offerings.鈥�

The post 3 Beloved Nature Books You Probably Haven鈥檛 Read appeared first on 国产吃瓜黑料 Online.

Opportunities to be transported around the world through the pages of a good read have been a balm for adventure seekers. And with so many great releases this year, we had some trouble narrowing down our list.听So we asked eight authors whose own books recently took us to incredible places to recommend some of their favorites. These titles听will sate you until it鈥檚 safe to travel again.

鈥楻辞肠办补飞补测鈥� by Diane Cardwell

According To: Bonnie Tsui, author of four books, including听 and听.

Bonnie Tsui, who examines the听draw humans have to water in her most recent听book,听Why We Swim, returns to a similar听theme in her recommended pick. In ,听Diane听Cardwell鈥檚 focus is on staying above water鈥攍iterally and figuratively鈥攁s she navigates a 鈥渇ailed marriage鈥� and fevered career. 鈥淭his book is all about starting over听and finding the thing鈥攕urfing!鈥攖hat transforms that life into something hopeful and new,鈥澨齌sui听says.听Through a physically challenging endeavor, Cardwell helps readers understand how she has weathered the storm and offers hope to others trying to do the same.听听

Why We Need This Now: In a year when the pandemic has added a layer of difficulty onto all of our lives, Rockaway听serves as a guidepost to survival and exploration in our own backyards. 鈥淒iane Cardwell鈥檚 experience of figuring out how to surf while living in New York City is a great read in a time when we are all desperately seeking newness closer to home. It also has a healthy dose of joy and altered perspective,鈥� Tsui adds.

鈥楲eave Only Footprints鈥� by Conor Knighton

According To:听Mark Adams, author of four books, including and .

鈥淓very human on earth is going to need a long vacation next year, which, if rosy vaccine forecasts come true, could be the greatest road-trip summer in decades. In this charming survey of dozens of national parks, Conor Knighton self-medicates a broken heart by soaking up the wonders of America鈥檚 greatest outdoor hits,鈥� explains Mark Adams, whose prolific travel writing career has included journeys that led him to听search for听the lost city of Atlantis and听follow in听the footsteps of explorer Hiram Bingham III in the mountains of Peru.听

Why We Need This Now: For Adams, offers a worthy distraction from the exhausting news cycle we鈥檝e been faced with this year. 鈥淜nighton听will have you thinking about better uses for your pent-up energy. Like pitching a tent.鈥�

鈥業 Hold a Wolf by the Ears: Stories鈥� by Laura Van Den Berg

According To: Morgan Jerkins, author of three books, including 听and .

One of Time鈥檚 100 Must-Read Books of 2020, Laura Van Den Berg鈥檚听 of female-focused horror stories may not seem like a travel narrative at first (unlike the writer鈥檚听previous novel, ) but Morgan Jerkins says the author鈥檚 deft portrayal of Florida is just one example of how it is. 鈥淔lorida is a character itself in the book. Van Den Berg deftly details the heat and nature听as well as the people. It鈥檚 very distinct, and I鈥檇 put her in the group of young esteemed writers like Alissa Nutting and T Kira Madden听who are carving out Florida as a necessary place in the literary canon,鈥� Jerkins says.

Why We Need This Now: According to Jerkins, Van Den Berg鈥檚 ability to explore complex female emotion and transport readers to each destination offers readers a timely salve. 鈥淚 think this is the perfect book about travel in 2020 because the author sets stories in different locations, both domestic and international, and the way in which she explores fear might be the sense of understanding we need in such an unprecedented time.鈥�

鈥榃anderland: A Search for Magic in the Landscape鈥�听by Jini Reddy

According To: Gina Rae La Cerva, author of .

In Jini Reddy鈥檚 memoir , the London-based Canadian writer takes a magical journey through her adopted home鈥檚 natural landscapes to cope with听feeling like an outsider. 鈥淪ometimes the best adventures happen in our backyards,鈥� Gina Rae La Cerva says.听鈥淩eddy follows her heart and a good dose of serendipity to explore Britain鈥檚 natural wonders. This book is a celebration of the joys of roaming and discovering who we are when we come face to face with nature鈥檚 mysteries.鈥�

Why We Need This Now: La Cerva, whose own book is a world-spanning search of what foraging means to different cultures, understands how important connecting to nature is for our well-being. 鈥淔or many people, the lockdown has made escaping into the wilderness more challenging. Reddy shows us that even the most mundane landscapes contain their own wild magic. I also love that this book is about a woman of color exploring her connection to nature, including the role of her Hindu upbringing in that relationship and her own feeling of otherness.鈥�

鈥楿nderland: A Deep Time Journey鈥�听by Robert Macfarlane

According To: Tom Zoellner, author of eight nonfiction books, including and .

鈥淟ess a physical adventure than a startling intellectual journey, invites us to become conscious of a base fact of our everyday existence: the ground we stand on conceals unseen chthonic layers,鈥� says Tom Zoellner about Robert Macfarlane鈥檚 latest offering into underground spaces, which range from historic remnants, like nuclear waste burial chambers in Finland and the Paris Catacombs, to places that take us beyond easy听accessibility, like Norway鈥檚 sea caves.听鈥淢acfarlane is like John Wesley Powell without the suntan, taking us on a psychological spelunking odyssey,鈥澨齔oellner听adds.听

Why We Need This Now: As the world has seemingly shrunk during the pandemic, the idea of exploring our subterranean offerings gives a whole new meaning to appreciating our backyards. 鈥淢acfarlane gives us reasons to look deeper into pedestrian landscapes鈥攏ot just the picturesque ones鈥攁nd the language we use to make sense of them,鈥澨齔oellner听says.

鈥楽pirit Run: A 6,000-Mile Marathon听Through North America鈥檚 Stolen Land鈥�听by No茅 Alvarez

According To: Maggie Shipstead, author of three books, including and the forthcoming (May听2021).

A quest for connection鈥攖o the land and his ancestors鈥攊s at the heart of the running journey that No茅 Alvarez takes readers on over the course of . 鈥淭he route [that Alvarez ran] was designed to pass through as many tribal lands as possible, and he found himself running alone on gravel roads or simple trails crossing through mountains, rainforest, punishing desert, volcanic moonscape, and sometimes urban centers, contemplating the relationship between Native peoples and the land taken from them,鈥� explains听Maggie Shipstead, whose own travelogue, set for release next May, also examines the connections forged on a journey across time (Prohibition through modern day) and place (America, New Zealand, and England).听

Why We Need This Now: 鈥淎lvarez is the child of Mexican migrants who endured decades of back-breaking labor [in Yakima, Washington] to make ends meet, and he weaves his parents鈥櫶齭tories into his account of the run, as well as those of the other [Indigenous] runners, many of whom have led crushingly difficult lives. For a lot of us, 2020 has been a year of grappling with the cruelties of the American system while also trying to make sense of mass suffering, and Alvarez鈥檚 memoir鈥攄eeply personal and moving in its rawness鈥攄oes both,鈥澨齋hipstead听says.

鈥楾he New Wilderness鈥�听by Diane Cook听

According To: Rahawa Haile, author of the forthcoming 听(2022).

In her memoir about the Appalachian Trail,听set for release in 2021, Rahawa Haile shares her experience of finding herself anew in wild frontiers. Diane Cook鈥檚 does the same for its female protagonists who are fighting for their survival. 鈥�The New Wilderness is a speculative novel involving a group of people who seek refuge in the last remaining wilderness when the air in the city is deemed too toxic for children,鈥� explains Haile about the buzzy dystopian debut. 鈥淚t鈥檚 an exhilarating and immersive work, centered on a mother and daughter, that deftly jumps between the physical and interpersonal challenges faced by those who have left everything behind for a chance at struggling anew.鈥澨�

Why We Need This Now: The book鈥檚 focus on the necessity of working with our neighbors鈥攅ven those with whom we don鈥檛 share a similar life experience鈥攖o preserve the planet is timely. According to Haile, 鈥淭his book is perfect for anyone who spent 2020 cooped up at home due to the pandemic while nursing a healthy anxiety about the climate crisis. If you wish to lose yourself in a story about the natural world set in the long-term consequences of unchecked extractive industries, this is your novel.鈥�

鈥楨at the Buddha鈥�听by Barbara Demick

According听To: Monisha Rajesh, author of .

A trip to North Korea introduced Monisha Rajesh to听Barbara听Demick鈥檚 Nothing to Envy, which she describes as 鈥渁 gripping examination of the so-called hermit kingdom through the voices of six defectors.鈥� In , Demick uses that same ability to turn out a 鈥渇air and measured narrative鈥� to Tibet. 鈥淭his time, she鈥檚 pieced together stories told by Tibetans from Ngaba County in China to shed light on the struggles that have taken place since China occupied Tibet [in 1950],鈥� Rajesh explains. 鈥淭racing and tracking down hundreds of eyewitnesses to events between 1958 to present day, she has conducted exhaustive interviews that allow her to recreate everything from the smell of burning villages and the screams of tortured grandparents to softer moments of salty yak butter glistening in tea.鈥� Rajesh, who also visited Tibet by train for her own book, appreciated Demick鈥檚 even-handed approach. 鈥淲e see the raw untouched land pre-invasion and witness the destruction of the natural surroundings as time goes on.鈥�

Why We Need This Now: 鈥淒emick presents a nuanced take, explaining that many Tibetans, including the Dalai Lama, were initially open to Chinese assistance when it came to improving the lives of Tibetans, but not to the point that their culture and religion should be eroded,鈥� says Rajesh about current-day . 鈥淭his book is a very relevant read that听sheds light on the way in which minorities are perceived and treated by the Chinese government and the reasons behind [their persecution],鈥澨齊ajesh adds.

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On Wednesday, the Trump administration that will strip protections from 9.4 million acres of the Tongass National Forest in Alaska. The move is being made despite overwhelming opposition from the general public听and Native Americans听who rely on the forest for food and clean water. It鈥檚 expected to decimate salmon populations听and听eliminate the largest carbon sink in the country, worsening the impacts of climate change. If that鈥檚 not bad enough, logging the Tongass requires massive financial support from taxpayers, resulting in a net loss to the government鈥檚 bottom line.听

Published without comment or fanfare, in a possible attempt to influence Alaska鈥檚 Senate election, the rule works against the express desire of听citizens to create a corporate welfare program that targets marginalized communities while destroying the environment.听It鈥檚 all the worst parts of this Presidency wrapped up in a final fuck you听to the country right before election day.听

Encompassing 16.7 million acres of southeast Alaska, the Tongass is our nation鈥檚 largest national forest. But fewer than ten million acres of it are actually forested, with the rest being composed of glaciers, wetlands, and other ecosystems. Still, those forests are so large that they of our country鈥檚 annual carbon emissions鈥攅quivalent to the total yearly emissions of ten million cars鈥攁nd are composed of virgin, old-growth trees that grow up to ten feet in diameter, 200 feet tall, and 800 years old. No other part of our continent per square mile. And the Tongass is full of animals, too, including five species of salmon, the densest populations of brown bears and bald eagles on the planet, the rare Alexander Archipelago Wolf (or Sea Wolf), orcas, humpback whales, otters, and much more. It鈥檚 common to hear the Tongass referred to as 鈥淎merica鈥檚 Amazon,鈥� but since it鈥檚 a temperate, rather than a tropical, rainforest, it鈥檚 actually . About 2.4 million square miles of tropical rainforest remain across the planet, but only 117,000 miles of temperate rainforest exist. Destroying the Tongass鈥檚 14,000 square miles of rainforest would eliminate 12 percent of all the temperate rainforest area remaining in the world.听

The Tongass has been protected since 2001 by , a Clinton administration edict that prohibited new road building across sensitive areas of national forests. Because extractive activities, like industrial logging, require roads听to operate, the Roadless rule effectively limited the operations of such industries in forests, where it applies, to their 2001 levels. But, as of Thursday, all 9.4 million acres of forest in the Tongass are听open to logging.听

The move is not popular. During the public comment period, over 2.5 million Americans , with 96 percent of respondents opposed to听the rule change and only one percent in favor. All five of Alaska鈥檚 tribal nations , writing, 鈥淲e refuse to allow legitimacy upon a process that has disregarded our input at every turn,鈥� in a letter to agriculture secretary Sonny Perdue.听

National forests are part of听the Department of Agriculture, and not the Department of the Interior, which runs听Bureau of Land Management听lands, national parks, and more, and has been embroiled in its own corruption scandals.

Logging the Tongass will not benefit taxpayers. A federal mandate dictates that timber sales in national forests result in profits for the private businesses involved, so the forest service , including road building.听A study conducted by , a nonpartisan advocacy group that听鈥渂elieves听in fiscal policy based on facts,鈥� found that existing logging operations in the Tongass have cost taxpayers $44 million a year since 1980. That rate of loss is predicted to continue as more areas of the forest open to extraction. The Guardian that each mile of road constructed in the Tongass could cost taxpayers up to $500,000.听

Nor is logging the Tongass necessary. As of 2012, the most recent year for which this data is available, unused logging inventory in areas with existing permits totaled . The total amount of lumber the Tongass holds is .听

It鈥檚 also unlikely expanded logging in the forest will substantially benefit the local economy. According to Alaska鈥檚 Southeast Conference鈥攁 business council鈥�, or 372 total workers. In contrast, the seafood industry employs 3,743 locals, or eight percent of the total. Tourism employs 7,344 people there,听accounting for 18 percent of the economy. It makes no sense to endanger industries made possible by a healthy, intact ecosystem with one that only stands to profit from destroying it.听

of Alaska鈥檚 $986 million annual commercial salmon harvest comes from the Tongass鈥檚 77 watersheds. It鈥檚 expected that erosion and other runoff will enter those streams and rivers, smothering salmon eggs and . That directly threatens $276 million in commercial activity for the state.听

So without a benefit to taxpayers in Alaska or elsewhere in this country, and at a significant threat to the local economy, who benefits from this particular regulatory rollback by the Trump administration? China, which听 to fuel its booming construction industry听and to produce furniture and other consumer goods it exports to America, and other markets.听

听created by the USDA stated that the percentage of lumber produced in the Tongass and exported to China was听鈥渙ver 90 percent听in both 2005 and 2011.鈥�

conducted by the University of Montana鈥檚 Bureau of Business and Economic Research found that听鈥渘early all 2015 Alaskan log exports were sent to Pacific Rim countries in Northeast Asia, with听China receiving approximately 76 percent of the volume leaving the Anchorage Customs District.鈥�

, a conservative lobbying organization started by Ronald Reagan in 1977 for the purpose of, 鈥減rotecting听the American taxpayer by undertaking grassroots initiatives to stop the advance of liberal government,鈥� pulls no punches about what鈥檚 going on here. , 鈥淚f听the Roadless Rule is lifted, the expanded logging in the Tongass will generate millions for China鈥檚 economy鈥攂ut little for America鈥檚 economy.鈥澨�

Meanwhile, money that could be generated by keeping the Tongass intact, in benefit of the American economy, is being left on the table. Already, , a Native-owned for-profit corporation that听historically engaged in logging, has turned its 300,000 acres of the Tongass into ,听over five years,听in the form of carbon credits. In that time, the price of carbon has increased 25 percent.

But the forest service to sell or regulate carbon offsets. The forest service exists . And decades of entrenched lobbying are preventing that from changing.听

The Western Values Project, a conservation advocacy organization, that Alaska Senator Lisa Murkowski accepted campaign donations from Viking Lumber, one of the chief benefactors of expanded logging in the Tongass. It also found that a prominent USDA lawyer formerly represented Viking in their efforts to expand logging in the forest, and goes on to paint a picture of further financial links between pro-logging interests听and political offices in the state.听

Meanwhile, the Alaskan economy has been rocked by the COVID-19 pandemic, and politicians running for re-election in the state are under pressure to deliver at least the appearance of creating jobs. Dan Sullivan, the state鈥檚 junior Senator, is locked in a tight re-election campaign, and The Washington Post that President Trump鈥檚 attempts to keep him in power could be the reason why the rule opening the Tongass was advanced at this moment.听

According to the Post, the President allegedly asked Senator Sullivan: 鈥淗ow the [expletive] do you have an economy without roads?鈥澨�

One ray of hope here is that a hypothetical future Biden administration would likely reverse the revocation of the Roadless Rule, halting new road construction as soon as three months after it was permitted. As of the time of writing, over 50 million Americans have already cast their vote. If nothing else, this should be a reminder that your vote really does matter.听

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January to March 2020

Idle factories

China鈥檚 lockdown was announced during Chinese New Year in January, keeping factories shuttered beyond the usual holiday period, and once they reopened, production ramped up slowly. The slowdown caused some manufacturers to delay Fall 鈥�20 launches.

Slowdowns spread beyond China. India鈥攚hich manufactures much of the sportswear sold by U.S. brands鈥攑rojected four-month production delays, reports Flylow co-founder Dan Abrams. 鈥淲e have some Spring 鈥�20 product groupings that are so delayed that we鈥檙e not going to deliver them until Spring 鈥�21,鈥� he said.

Domestic manufacturing also suffered slowdowns as states imposed shelter-in-place orders. For example, Farm to Feet sent almost all personnel home for three weeks while it developed alternate production procedures that accounted for social distancing and increased safety guidelines. The company鈥檚 manufacturing facilities reopened at the beginning of May after extensive training for these new procedures, and was running at full capacity by June 鈥�20.

March 2020

Slow Spring Sales

Stores were receiving Spring 鈥�20 products and closing out Winter 鈥�19-20 goods when they were shuttered. That convergence created a glut of unsold stock. According to NPD, outdoor retail sales in March 鈥�20 declined 24 percent from February, and were 41 percent lower than in March 鈥�19.

With brick-and-mortar retailers closed, brands that rely heavily on in-store shopping took a big hit. Without venues for shoppers to try on shoes, Vasque, for example, saw spring sales dip by 50 to 60 percent.

But it wasn鈥檛 all downside. Gregory鈥檚 hydration and daypacks continued strong through spring, and Mountain Hardwear sold lots of hiking pants to people who turned to outdoor workouts when coronavirus closed gyms.

鈥淚t鈥檚 really an inventory game,鈥� said Mountain Hardwear President Joe Vernachio. Like many outdoor brands, Mountain Hardwear is doing everything it can to help retailers sell what they can鈥攊ncluding swapping out winter items for spring gear, paying retailers a 40 percent commission on Mountain Hardwear sales, and lengthening billing terms. Mountain Hardwear is urging retailers to accept deliveries when possible. After all, says Vernachio, product 鈥渉as zero chance of selling in our distribution center.鈥�

April 2020

Accelerated discounting

Manufacturers and retailers typically delay discounting until late in the season, but this year, the sales started in April. According to Vernachio, the industry experienced an unofficial yet widespread 鈥淢AP (minimum advertised price)鈥� holiday during which pricing dipped by 20 to 25 percent. Such sales help brands and retailers (especially those with ecommerce platforms) convert inventory to cash. But, said Flylow鈥檚 Abrams, 鈥淎fter June 1, Flylow and its retailers returned Flylow鈥檚 Spring 鈥�20 product to full price.鈥�

April through May 2020

Balky Spring 鈥�21 planning

Many brands are pushing back product updates that had been planned for Spring 鈥�21 because such items would relegate Spring 鈥�20 items to the clearance rack. 鈥淲e want to support our retailers by allowing them to sell through the inventory they have,鈥� said Gregory Vice President John Sears. Across the industry, he also expects to see fewer new-product launches for Spring 鈥�21. Brands such as Carve Designs and Mountain Hardwear are eliminating marginal styles that weren鈥檛 likely to be high-volume sellers.

Brands are also extending the timeframe for retailer orders. 鈥淲e鈥檙e preparing for a longer selling season for Spring 鈥�21,鈥� said Abrams. For Flylow, that could mean weaker forecasting, since the company expects to have to place its factory orders before it confirms retailers鈥� demands. Mountain Hardwear, however, will shift its factory buyout (the time it reserves on the Asian production lines) by a month to line up with delayed orders.

Fall 2020

Delayed and staggered shipments

At the very first signs of trouble in early 2020, brands rushed to scale back their orders with factories in an attempt to avoid Fall 鈥�20 surplus. And as Winter 鈥�20-21 arrives, brands may consider delaying deliveries to retail鈥攕o that the season鈥檚 products appear in stores later than they typically would. 鈥淗onestly, we鈥檙e happy about that,鈥� said Vernachio, 鈥渂ecause it seems like winter arrives a little later every year, so waiting until March to bring spring in is probably the right timing.鈥�

Sears says Gregory is mulling the benefit of delivering certain categories on January 1 as usual, with other types of product following behind. 鈥淢aybe we could introduce daypacks earlier in the year, with other packs arriving later,鈥� Sears suggested. 鈥淎nd that way, we wouldn鈥檛 have new product replacing old product right away in stores.鈥�

Spring 2021

Uncertain sales strategy

Some brands are aiming to replay Spring 鈥�20 product in Spring 鈥�21, so that retailers can sell through the glut. 鈥淪pring 鈥�20 will feel fresh [in Spring 鈥�21] because it didn鈥檛 really get a full season,鈥� said Sears. Thus Gregory plans to re-run its lauded Paragon and Maven backpacks. However, cautions Vernachio, leaning solely on past-season goods risks looking stale. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a balance,鈥� he explained. 鈥淲e鈥檙e still going to have a lot of fresh new ideas and fabrics.鈥�

Spring 2022

Gear development impacts

Spring and Summer 2020 is when brands design Spring 鈥�22 gear, but this year, social distancing eliminated in-person evaluations with fit models, prototype testing, and trips to factories to discuss nascent designs, slowing the process.

Lengthy trickle-down

Returning to 鈥渘ormal鈥� timelines after the Spring 鈥�20 surfeit may take a surprisingly long time. Some predict normal timing won鈥檛 resume until Spring 鈥�22. But the silver lining is the resiliency of the outdoor sector鈥攚hich has historically weathered economic downturns better than most. When the coronavirus closed ski resorts in March 鈥�20, Abrams saw a spike in sales of backcountry gear, and he expects hiking and outdoor leisure to follow suit. 鈥淲hen times are tough, people axe the exotic vacations and go camping,鈥� he said.

This story originally ran in the Summer 2020 issue of The Voice.

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This story originally ran in the Summer 2020 issue of The Voice.听

A few years ago, as the trade war with China heated up, Mark Wolf decided he had had enough. Already frustrated with theft of his company’s intellectual property in China鈥擶olf makes outdoor fire pits, camp grills, and fireproof covers, under the name Fireside Outdoor, among other products there鈥攈e shifted production of a large chunk of the work out of the country, to Vietnam.

Then, last winter, the coronavirus hit. And Wolf, like many in the outdoor industry, felt just how inextricably his fortunes remain tied to China.

The contagion all but shuttered the country for weeks, including its border with Vietnam and the flow of raw materials and components Wolf required. 鈥淲e had 13 containers sitting in Vietnam, stuck there. They were filled with kits waiting for nuts and bolts, the right fasteners,鈥� Wolf, the president of Fireside Outdoor, said about his predicament at the end of March. All of those nuts and bolts come from China. What鈥檚 more, he says, the aluminum ingots his Vietnamese factory needs also come from China. 鈥淭he coronavirus really exposed how dependent we are on China and their massive, disproportionate supply of raw materials,鈥� he said. 鈥淎nd that鈥檚 the key: disproportionate. It鈥檚 almost like Napoleon realizing he鈥檚 too far into Russia.鈥�

A reckoning is afoot, Wolf predicts. 鈥淲e can鈥檛 all leave China in the short term,鈥� said Wolf, who still makes 60 percent of his goods there. 鈥淏ut I can鈥檛 imagine there isn鈥檛 a boardroom in America that isn鈥檛 considering changing or offsetting their supply chain with China.鈥�

China has long been the world鈥檚 workshop, producing one fifth of the manufacturing output across the globe, according to the Brookings Institution, a public policy nonprofit. Increasingly, however, many companies have been wondering whether China is still the place to make their products. Some companies already have shifted elsewhere, or plan to. Nearly 40 percent of respondents in an American Chamber of Commerce in the People鈥檚 Republic of China survey in mid-2019 said they had either relocated manufacturing from China or were considering doing so.

This conversation is 鈥渁bsolutely front听and center鈥� in the outdoor industry right now, says Drew Saunders, a member of the Outdoor Industry Association鈥檚 Trade Advisory Council and the country manager for Oberalp North America. Saunders knows from experience. He says that Oberalp鈥檚 brands鈥攊ncluding Salewa, Dynafit, and Pomoca鈥攈ave been making a 鈥渟low pivot鈥� away from producing apparel in China over the last five years. For other firms, the U.S. trade war with China and now the global pandemic that has convulsed through China and the rest of the world have forced them to face the question: Is China worth the trouble?

The issue seems urgent amid the economic crisis ushered in by the coronavirus, but the truth is that other factors are at play, and despite the reasons to leave, there are also compelling reasons to stay. Here鈥檚 what the manufacturing landscape looks like鈥攂oth in and out of China鈥攁nd why the only certain thing is that this question is not going away.

The Case for Leaving

Rising Costs

Until recently, the primary issue pushing companies to leave China was simple: the increasing cost of doing business there. Once, cheap labor was a huge draw. That鈥檚 no longer the case: Hourly labor costs in China-based manufacturing reached $5.78 in 2019, according to Statista.com. In Vietnam, it was $2.99 an hour.

Wages aren鈥檛 the only rising costs. The Chinese government has imposed increased regulatory requirements, and costs related to the environment have risen as well, as the country tries to address major pollution problems. 鈥淵ou can鈥檛 just dump stuff anymore,鈥� said Mary Lovely, a professor of economics at Syracuse University and a senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics. Outdoor companies are all for reducing pollution, of course, but it still changes the cost of doing business.

Sitting like a sour cherry atop these varying concerns are the tariffs of the U.S.-China trade war. Those costs are driving Fishpond USA to seek manufacturing elsewhere. Fishpond has successfully relocated some of its softgoods production, but still has significant ties to China, says founder Johnny Le Coq. 鈥淥h yeah. We鈥檙e looking. We鈥檙e looking at every opportunity we can, for the factories who have the ability, from a quality perspective, to make our products,鈥� he said. 鈥淥ur duty on packs and bags made in China is now over 42 percent, up from 17.6 percent just a few years ago.鈥�

That extra cost creates another frustration, Le Coq says. 鈥淲ith reduced margins, the incentive to innovate within that category is reduced and compromised. And we live in a world of innovation.鈥�

That leaves few options, Le Coq said. 鈥淭he implications of the tariffs are forcing brands like us to move.鈥�

Human Rights

Concerns about working conditions in China are hardly new (see: Apple and FoxConn). Human rights violations aren鈥檛, either. But a report released in early March now links these two in a troubling way. The Chinese government has transferred Uyghurs, a Muslim ethnic minority, and also other ethnic-minority citizens, to factories across the country and is making them work 鈥渦nder conditions that strongly suggest forced labor,鈥� according to the report 鈥淯yghurs for Sale鈥� by the Australian Strategic Policy Group, an independent, nonpartisan think tank. The Uyghurs are in the supply chains of 鈥渁t least 83 well-known global brands in the technology, clothing, and automotive sectors,鈥� the report alleges, citing Apple, BMW, Nike, Patagonia, and L.L.Bean, among others.

In reply, companies told media outlets they take an ethical supply chain seriously and are committed to upholding compliance standards that prohibit forced labor. Patagonia and L.L.Bean both issued statements affirming this, with L.L.Bean saying, 鈥淥ur Supply Chain Code of Conduct strictly prohibits the use of forced labor of any kind. Our global compliance programs and auditors cover every country听where a factory makes L.L.Bean-branded product, including China, and we are actively working with our fellow industry leaders, associations, and our partners in the region to ensure that our supply chain standards are being met at the highest level.鈥� Amy Celico, principal at global business consultant Albright Stonebridge Group, expects this issue will continue to be a big deal in the coming months. Some companies will decide remaining in China is not worth it, she says, given the need to police supply chains.

Emerging Alternatives

While forces within China are pushing companies out, there are opportunities elsewhere that are pulling them in. For example, skilled workers in other countries are drawing brands that need cut-and-sew manufacturing.

Vietnam is one of those places. Osprey discovered it years ago, and recently the ski glove maker Hestra USA followed suit. About three years ago, the company purchased a building there and installed new equipment, as part of a long-range plan to shift part of its glove production from China to Vietnam, says Dino Dardano, the company鈥檚 president. 鈥淲e鈥檝e had tremendous success鈥攕o much so that we actually expanded the facility by about 30 percent last fall to accommodate about 125 more workers,鈥� he said.

Dardano says Hestra has been in China for 50 years, owning two companies there in a joint venture. But experienced sewers are in decline there, and the company has not found young people to replace them. 鈥淚 can tell you that I鈥檝e had a lot of conversations with my peers and they鈥檙e faced with the same challenges when it comes to sewn goods,鈥� he said. Dardano attributes the change in part to China鈥檚 now-defunct one-child policy, and the problem is likely exacerbated by the natural evolution of a maturing economy.

Vietnam isn鈥檛 the only country benefiting from the exodus. South Asia saw a 34 percent increase in demand for factory inspections and audits in the first half of 2019 over the same period in 2018, according to supply chain consultant QIMA. And the migration is not limited to Asia. Tariffs and the coronavirus have also made it more appealing to bring production听closer to home. The volume of inspections 鈥淎s a company has no plans to move production and audits ordered of factories in Latin America by U.S. businesses increased nearly 50 percent last year,” QIMA reported.

Another shift away from China came at the prompting of the outdoor industry itself. Travel goods鈥攍uggage, backpacks, sports bags鈥攎ade in China can be taxed steeply upon entering the U.S. Sensing opportunity, the outdoor industry lobbied to have such goods made eligible for the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP), a trade-preference program that allows qualified products to enter the U.S. duty-free when a substantial amount of their value is produced in more than 120 developing countries. The effort has been successful in recent years. 鈥淪ince that went into effect, we鈥檝e seen a movement out of China to Indonesia, Philippines, Thailand, and other GSP countries on travel goods,鈥� said Rich Harper, manager of international trade for Outdoor Industry Association. In 2015, China produced about 64 percent of GSP-eligible travel goods. By January of this year, that share of 鈥渕ade in China鈥� had been cut by 40 percent. 鈥淭he duty savings that first year was something like $90 million鈥� for outdoor companies, Harper says.

A Natural Evolution

What companies are experiencing overall with China is part of a natural evolution: As a country matures, so does the nature of the work that鈥檚 done there. You can see the Chinese government directing this transition, says Celico, of the Albright Stonebridge Group. 鈥淎s the country has become more economically advanced, it鈥檚 not just that it became more expensive to manufacture there, it鈥檚 that the Chinese government started to鈥攕orry for the lack of a technical phrase鈥攑ooh-pooh low-end manufacturing,鈥� Celico said. 鈥淭he government has started to become more selective about the kinds of manufacturing it wants to encourage, as well as the location of manufacturing facilities.”

Celico recalls working with a sporting goods manufacturer there. Government officials told the company they didn鈥檛 want the factory in the middle of Shenzhen anymore because the area was being turned into a high-tech manufacturing zone. 鈥淲e just decided that if we鈥檙e gonna move, we鈥檙e gonna move to Mexico,鈥� Celico said.

This evolution has played out elsewhere. Japan, for instance, became the place to produce cheap goods right after World War II, and was later supplanted by Taiwan. Eventually manufacturing went to places such as Korea. Thirty years ago, South Korea was the world鈥檚 primary supplier of backpacking tents. Now it supplies the high-end fabric and poles for those tents, but the tents themselves are made elsewhere. Today, South Korea has a booming outdoor recreation scene and its participants now buy those tents.

The Case for Staying

Quality and Capacity

Despite qualms about China, many outdoor companies say it鈥檚 not good for business to leave. For starters, the work is usually fast and high quality. Of course, not every company鈥檚 experience in China is the same because not every supply chain is the same, says Lovely, the economics professor. Small companies that don鈥檛 require much sophistication, or don鈥檛 need many subcontractors to make their products, can pick up and move rather quickly in the face of headwinds, she says. Meanwhile, very large multinational companies (Samsung, for example) may be able to shift production to another factory they own elsewhere, if trouble strikes. But a lot of outdoor companies probably fall in between the two, she says. Their products require knowledge to make, perhaps specialized equipment and techniques, a mature supplier system, and contractors and subcontractors. Finding this elsewhere is not easy, she says. That makes China 鈥渟ticky,鈥� as it were.

Big Agnes manufactures throughout Southeast Asia, including in the Philippines for furniture and, more recently, in Vietnam for stuff sacks. But the Colorado-based company has no plans to move production of its well-regarded sleeping bags and tents, the latter of which can command $700 or more, out of China, says founder Bill Gamber. 鈥淭he best sleeping bag manufacturers in the world are in China. Same goes for tents,鈥� Gamber said. In 2019, 95 percent of all down sleeping bags imported to the U.S.鈥攁nd nearly 90 percent of all kinds of sleeping bags鈥攃ame from China, according to statistics from the International Trade Commission.

Relationships

More than a physical factory and skilled workers keep Big Agnes in China, however. 鈥淎 really high-end, ultralight backpacking tent is not as complicated as an electric car,鈥� Gamber acknowledged. 鈥淏ut our supply chain is very specific for building a very specialized tent.鈥� Big Agnes鈥檚 manufacturer leans on an ecosystem of suppliers. 鈥淲e鈥檝e been working with both our factory and fabric supplier for 20 years,鈥� he said. 鈥淚t would take years to rebuild what we鈥檝e done.鈥�

Such talk of 鈥渞elationships鈥� is not mushy sentiment; a relationship can save you money, says Gail Ross, chief operating officer of Krimson Klover, whose apparel company continues to work with the same factory in China that it has for a decade, even as some of the brand鈥檚 manufacturing of sweaters and other clothing has shifted elsewhere. 鈥淚 can say, 鈥楬ey, do you remember that silhouette from five years ago? I want you to haul that out, and do this, this, and this with it,鈥欌�� Ross said. Less back-and-forth with a factory owner translates into less time and money spent air shipping prototypes. And a longstanding relationship means Ross only goes to the factory in person twice a year. 鈥淲ith brand-new factories, we need to go three, maybe four times a year.鈥�

A small company like Krimson Klover also found something else when shopping around for alternative manufacturing options: 鈥淭here are other countries鈥擨ndonesia, Vietnam鈥攖hat are really great at cut-and-sew and printing. But the minimums are much higher,鈥� Ross says. So, for now, the same Chinese factory that gets the 鈥渃arrot鈥� of her fall business is willing to accept the 鈥渟tick鈥� of her tiny spring production.

Culture

And then there are cultural differences that can work in China鈥檚 favor. In China, 鈥渁 normal shift is 12 hours,鈥� said Wolf of Fireside Outdoor. 鈥淭hey work seven days a week. And then they really, really enjoy their holidays.鈥� He added, 鈥淲hat we鈥檙e seeing in Vietnam, and we also saw this in the Philippines, is that they have a different work ethic. In Vietnam we鈥檙e having challenges where an employee won鈥檛 show up for three days. Then he just shows up on the fourth day and says, 鈥楬ere I am.鈥� It鈥檚 hard to do a production line when someone doesn鈥檛 show up at their post.鈥�

In China, workers historically have been more willing to move where the work is, says Neil Burch, who has 35 years of experience manufacturing in Asia and today is president of the North American group of Joinease, which designs, manufactures, and does market research for drinkware for the suppliers to Nike, Gatorade, and Brita. 鈥淏ut in Vietnam, they kind of want to live at [or near] home,鈥� he said, which can cause issues for manufacturers in locating and moving factories. Burch says his company听has looked at Vietnam, and could establish a factory there eventually. But not yet.

And China is not alone in wrestling with issues of human and workers鈥� rights. Ethical ratings in Malaysia, Vietnam, and the Philippines have been 鈥渟lipping,鈥� according to the consultant QIMA, and factory safety can be poor. (One outdoor company executive says she wasn鈥檛 comfortable leaving China for another country, where working conditions and human rights would be even harder for her to track.)

For his part, Burch鈥檚 company is refocusing on China. 鈥淲e鈥檙e looking at doubling down and reinvesting,鈥� he said.

Emerging Middle Class

An enormous reason to stay in China is the Chinese market itself. 鈥淐hina is poised to replace the United States as the biggest consumer market in the world,鈥� said Celico, from the Albright Stonebridge Group. 鈥淭hat is a massive change. This is a country of 1.4 billion people. The middle class is basically larger than the population of the U.S.鈥� China has a thriving outdoor gear market. It was worth $60 billion in听2018, and it鈥檚 expected to be worth $100 billion by 2025, according to a 2019 report by Research in China.

鈥淎nd so, what a lot of companies are doing is sort of splitting the baby, saying, 鈥極K, maybe we have to diversify our global supply chain, but we still have to manufacture inside China, for China,鈥欌�� said Celico.

To Leave or Not to Leave

Every company will use a slightly different calculus to determine if it鈥檚 time to go. And many will find, like Wolf, that even when you decide to get out, truly disengaging from China is harder than it appears. But every company will have to confront the same basic issues, and this unavoidable fact: The worldwide ecosystem of manufacturing and consumer sales is more complicated, and more intertwined, than ever before. China is at the center of that world and no matter what you make or where you make it, managing how the global Goliath impacts your business matters more than ever.

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Sandstone bluffs riddled with crevices. Maroon precipices wrinkled with scaly turtleback rocks. A never-ending wall called El Dorado (named after the Lost City of Gold)听rising abruptly at a slight turn in the valley.

During a call with me on January 10, Mike Dobie and Ana Pautler, his fiancee, described the scenery surrounding their home in Liming, a bucolic town high in the mountains of southwest China鈥檚 Yunnan province. They were calling from the car听as they made their way from spending Christmas and New Year鈥檚 in Seattle听to Pautler鈥檚 hometown of San Francisco. Dobie, a typically reserved rock climber, bubbled with enthusiasm and giddiness as he described the daily offerings in Liming: a local flea market that pops up every ten days where he gets fresh meat,听friendly greetings every morning from a vegetable lady who grows organic potatoes and peanuts,听and $2 jumbo stir-fries from his favorite restaurant.听

鈥淟ife there is paradise. It鈥檚 quiet, with lots of rock opportunities around,鈥� said Dobie, 37, who has spent most of the past decade developing trad and sport routes in Liming.

The couple would be flying back to Liming in two days. To prepare for the trip, they had stuffed two giant duffels and a roller bag with 80-meter ropes, resoled climbing shoes, maple syrup, Mexican seasonings, Doritos, and a bag of Tootsie Pops, whose chewy chocolate center and cherry-flavored coating Dobie relishes way too much. He rambled on about their ambitious plan to turn El Dorado, a wall of compacted sandstone and limestone, into a sport-climbing hub. He also hoped to open an Airbnb-style complex of guesthouses in Liming later this year, which would serve as a听base camp for climbers. Five or six local households鈥攁 number that would grow if the experiment were听successful鈥攚ould host visiting climbers, make them meals, and offer gear rentals, first aid, and rescue services.

At the end of the 90-minute conversation, I wished them luck with their mission and impending听arduous trip: a 30-hour flight from San Francisco, including a two-hour layover in Hong Kong, to Kunming, Yunnan鈥檚 capital. This to be followed by a three-hour bullet train ride to Lijiang, a prefecture-level city in the northwest of the province; and another three hours by car on the bumpy, meandering mountain road to Liming.

I should have told them to wear masks and听hoard hand sanitizer, or cancel the trip altogether.

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In 1981,听alpinists Jim Donini, Jack Tackle, Greg Thomsen, Jim Kanzler, and Kim Schmitz traveled to China听to summit Mount听Siguniang. Their attempt was fraught with complications, high jinks, and bad decisions. The living members recollect the trip in this film听of Alpinists at Large:听1981 Attempt on Mount听Siguniang in China, from the and .

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In late July听of 2016, more than a dozen听Liberian researchers set up a makeshift lab at the edge of the听rainforest in their nation鈥檚听northern听, which shares the听border with听Guinea. Liberia is home to听听and听houses some of the world鈥檚 rarest animal听species, including the Liberian mongoose and pygmy hippos. But Jackson Poultolnor and the other researchers, all clad in听rubber boots, N95 masks,听face shields, leather welding gloves, and听Tyvek suits, were there for bats.听

Bats have been a source of food in Africa and other parts of the planet听for thousands of years.听When Poultolnor听was a child, his听mother听prepared the meat in a sweet stew for him and his eight siblings. But the mammal听is also a reservoir of pathogens and to be the source of the 2013 Ebola virus outbreak, which led to more than 11,000 deaths across this region. So听Poultolnor and his team听ventured into the听dense vegetation to bind mist nets to听trees in order to capture and study the animal. It was Liberia鈥檚 first听wildlife-surveillance operation, and it was conducted as a part听of听, an organization launched in 2009 by the听U.S. Agency for International Development鈥檚听(USAID)听听to monitor infectious diseases.听

Since the organization鈥檚 inception,听American epidemiologists and sociologists have trained over听6,000 researchers in more than 30 developing countries to seek听out zoonotic diseases in wildlife and听collaborate听with local officials听to head off new outbreaks. Predict teams across the globe have discovered , including Ebola viruses and SARS-like coronaviruses.听

In January听2019, after sampling over 5,000 bats听every two听weeks听for more than two years, the Liberian Predict听team found for Ebola. It was the first time the type of Ebola virus responsible for the 2013听epidemic was detected in a Liberian bat. The discovery could help scientists learn more about how that virus infected humans听and, by extension, how to prevent other zoonotic diseases with pandemic potential听from spreading.

A few months later, in the fall of 2019,听the Trump administration for Predict, leaving more than 听around the world in limbo.听

At the heart of the Predict听project are the principles laid out by the , which seeks to foster collaborations between professionals in various science fields听that will benefit the听well-being of humans, animals, and the environment.

It鈥檚 an all-in-one philosophy that has deep historical roots. Hinduism鈥檚 ahimsa dictates that all living things are sacred because they are part of God and the natural world. Totemism, popular among may African tribes, posits听a kinship between humans and听wildlife.听Similarly, One Health,听which was started by听veterinarians and doctors in the United States , looks听to understand the human-wildlife interface,听encouraging听interdisciplinary collaborations in governent and academia, discouraging human encroachment听on natural habitats, and calling听for the extensive surveillance of pathogens.听

听

There are 听lurking in animal hosts across the globe, and more than 650,000 have the potential to听infect people, according to researchers at the at the University of California at听Davis. In fact, nearly 75 percent of the diseases affecting humans today stem听from wildlife. SARS-CoV-2, the virus responsible for the current pandemic,听is thought to have originated in bats and believed to have been听transmitted听to humans via at an open-air market in Wuhan, China.

In addition to the vast number of viruses, scientists at the One Health Institute听say听that viruses听are also听mutating faster than ever. Urbanization and climate change, as well as activities like logging, poaching, and听animal听trafficking, have shrunk and fragmented natural habitats, which in turn has led to听increased听contact between humans and wildlife and more opportunities for viral mutation.听

鈥淭rying to find these viruses in the wild is like finding a needle in a haystack,鈥� says听, an American field veterinarian who was appointed by the Obama administration to lead Predict听in Liberia. That doesn鈥檛 mean it鈥檚 worthless to try. Although it cost $20 million to operate Predict听each year, some have estimated that the current听COVID-19听outbreak could cost the world . A future pandemic could cost much more.

Though Predict听failed to identify听the virus that results in听COVID-19,听a Predict-supported publication by scientists at the Wuhan Institute of Virology back in 2015 warned about in China and Southeast Asia.听

On April 1, as confirmed cases of COVID-19 surpassed one听million in the U.S.听and three听million worldwide, Predict听received 听from USAID to focus听on the coronavirus. But the money was far from enough to host teams in different countries.听Luckily, in May, USAID announced a new project:听set to launch this听September,听 will leverage the data collected by Predict听to develop interventions that will听reduce the risk of the transmission of dangerous pathogens passing from animals to people.

For too long, when it comes to disease outbreaks, there鈥檚 been a cycle of panic (as threats ramp up) and neglect (when they subside), says听Tierra Smiley Evans, a wildlife veterinarian and epidemiologist at the One Health Institute. She hopes this pandemic will result in something different. 鈥淲e can鈥檛 leave a single country out in understanding the importance of the connection between human and animal health and working together on the prevention of the next pandemic,鈥� she says. 鈥淭hrough the tragedy that is happening now to the planet, I hope we come out stronger on the other end.鈥�

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