Hong Kong: containers

Apparently, yesterday (26 April 2006), was the fiftieth anniversary of the sailing of the first container ship: Wikipedia

Who'd have thought that an unglamourous, boring box would have been one of the key factors in the growth, development and prosperity of Hong Kong from the late-1960s onwards? (Click image to enlarge).

Somebody wrote a book about it:

The Box: How the Shipping Container Made the World Smaller and the World Economy Bigger -- video interview with Marc Levinson (Quicktime/Windows Media)

Plus. . . Ocean shipping is the biggest real-time datastreaming network in the world, by Stewart Taggart:

Today, enough shipping containers exist on the planet to build an 8-foot-high wall around the equator -- twice. Wired

And another eerie fact:

There are more shipping containers loaded and unloaded off the coasts and rivers of China, than travel to or from all other territories put together. It is in China that more than three-quarters of this activity takes place. The majority of China'’s shipping by implication appears to be 'domestic'’. The rest of the world put together only handles a third of what China handles. Thus at least half of all container shipping in the world appears to serve China's domestic market, be from ship to ship, or consist of part-finished goods being transported along the coast or down-river.

To make big that which is small, click on image.

Worldmapper

But, oh, is there any way to work the Boxer rebellion into this post? Suggestions appreciated. Thanks!