China provides the U.S. with lots of inexpensive goods.  In return, the U.S. sells back to China many high-end luxury products.

Here’s a case in point.  If you pick up a copy of Window of the South, a highly respected bi-weekly business magazine in China, you’ll find lots of advertisements for expensive luxury products.  In the latest issue, there’s an ad inside the front cover for a delicious imported alcoholic beverage.  It shows a tall champagne flute holding a beautiful amber liquid, next to an elegant brown-and-gold bottle, standing together proudly upon an oaken cask.  The copy raves that the premium wood and craftsmanship of the casks creates the product’s wondrous color and flavor, and ends by describing it as “truly a treasure.”  Mmm, yummy.

Is it Scotch?  No.

Wine? Uh-uh!

It’s a beer.  But not just any beer, a beer with a long and distinguished tradition.  First brewed in 1844 by German immigrants, this ambrosia has won many international awards.  It was the choice of the rich and powerful for years, including Bob Hope, who famously served it in his home. It was once one of the most popular beers in America, selling as many as 15MM barrels a year.  It is synonymous with American craftsmanship.  It is, quite simply, a legend.

No wonder, then, that it is craved by the Chinese quaffing cognoscenti; in China, it is known as “Blue Ribbon 1844” and retails for $44 bucks a bottle.

But here in the States, you can buy a six-pack for about 4 bucks.

You know it as Pabst Blue Ribbon.  Mmm, yummy.