“Digging to China” is one of the favorite pastimes of American children, which I had never heard of until I arrived at the United States. Parents tell their kids that if they keep digging a hole on the ground, they’ll arrive in China at the other end of the tunnel. Apparently in the UK there’s a similar game, with China replaced by Australia at the other end. I found this game absurdly hilarious and I was curious to know its origin, yet I haven’t found any certain explanations.
According to what I read online, the first prominent mention of the phrase comes in the writing of Henry David Thoreau in the middle of the 19th century. Less than two decades later, a fictional account of engineers reincarnated as beavers spoke of “the projected tunnel to China that was to be built under the sea and lined with porcelain”, before the idea was made into religious education. The joke of digging to China has also appeared in cartoons and animations on TV. There was even a film named Digging to China in 1997.
Seeing the time of its first appearance in literature, I can’t help but wonder if it has a connection with the arrival of the Chinese workers during the California gold rush. Did people first hear about China from the mouth of the Chinese immigrants? Was it because China seemed to be so far away that it was situated “at the other end of the world” in people’s mind?
If you know more about the origin of this game, please share with us!
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