Vuvuzela: South African symbol made in China

China's football team did not make it to the World Cup this year, but that does not mean the country's presence has not been felt: The Asian giant has cornered the market on perhaps the most unforgettable off-field aspect of the World Cup -- the vuvuzela.
Ninety percent of the vuvuzelas, the plastic South African trumpet whose loud rasp has become synonymous with the 2010 World Cup, are made in China, according to the China Daily.
The Chinese did it the same way they have done for so many other products: low costs and quick production at factories like the one run by Wu Yuye just outside the southern Chinese city of Ningbo. With a few dozen staff, they make more than 20,000 bugles a day. So far this year, they have churned out more than 1 million of them.
"I'm very proud that our vuvuzelas made it to World Cup in South Africa, especially since we have such a small family factory," Wu said.

And she is not alone. A recent poll in the state media found that more than 60 percent of respondents were proud the "made in China" vuvuzelas were so popular in South Africa.
Making the trumpets is simple: plastic is melted into a mold and then it sets. A small group of women take off the sharp edges to finish off the process.
Wu said it costs about US$0.40 to make each vuvuzela. But outside the stadiums in Johannesburg, the vuvuzelas can sell for up to $8. Despite the markup, not much is coming back to the Chinese manufacturers. Wu said she makes just a few cents on each one.
"Although we don't make a lot of money, I'm sure we'll have a good future making these," she said.
That's because Wu and all the vuvuzela makers in China are looking beyond the World Cup. Domestic orders are starting to come in, including for the Asian Games in Guangzhou later this year. Wu is hoping that the vuvuzela will be the next must have accessory for all sports fans -- maybe the next giant foam finger -- at events like baseball, basketball or rugby.
While a lot of debate has centered on the loud and droning noise of the vuvuzela, Wu has the tact of a business person who knows where the sales are.

"The vuvuzela is a tradition in South Africa, it makes a happy sound," she said.

Otunbayeva sworn in as Kyrgyz leader in historic first

Interim leader Rosa Otunbayeva has been sworn in as president of the troubled republic of Kyrgyzstan.

Mrs Otunbayeva took power after bloody street riots in April which ousted President Kurmanbek Bakiyev.
The former foreign minister becomes the first female president of an ex-communist Central Asian country.
The inaguration comes days after a referendum on a new constitution which will create the region's first parliamentary democracy.
She took the oath of office at a Soviet-era concert hall in the capital Bishkek.
Constitution Kyrgyzstan's Central Election Commission said that more than 90% of ballots cast in Sunday's referendum were in favour of the constitution.
In April thousands of homes and businesses were destroyed and an estimated 400,000 people - many of them from the minority ethnic Uzbek community - were displaced.
The official death toll from the violence that tore through Osh and Jalal-Abad currently stands at around 300, according to the AP news agency.
But Mrs Otunbayeva has said as many as 2,000 people died in the rioting. Most of the unrest was said to involve mobs of ethnic Kyrgyz attacking and setting fire to ethnic Uzbek districts.
The violence has abated but the country's Uzbek and Kyrgyz populations remain deeply divided. But ethnic Uzbeks have largely supported the interim government.
On Friday, acting Deputy Prime Minister Omurbek Tekebayev, who played a crucial part in drawing up the new constitution, said he would step down from the Cabinet later this month to prepare for October elections.
His resignation came after Mrs Otunbayeva appealed for prospective candidates in her interim Cabinet to resign.
She said that was the only way to ensure a level playing field in the parliamentary vote, AP reports.
So severe was the violence last month the Kyrgyz government appealed to Russia to send in peacekeeping troops. But Moscow rejected the request, offering instead technical assistance to track those committing the violence.
The Red Cross (ICRC) described the situation as an "immense crisis"

Source: WN