History Main / DiggingToChina

* Kids occasionally get you covered in mud and wreck garden lawns in an spirited effort to get to the traditional destination. Unless they are Chinese kids.

Since the Earth is round, characters who dig a hole right through Earth end up in another country. Traditionally they end up in China.

UK writers are more likely to end up in Australia and vice versa. Other destinations are possible, as long as the target is far enough way: under the RuleOfCool even straight tunnels go anywhere the plot desires. Wherever they end up, it will usually be ''conspicuously'' foreign with as many stereotyped visual cues on display as possible.

Characters dig a hole right through the Earth! They often end up in China.

The Earth is round: all those countries on the far side of the map are under our feet. Kids occasionally get you covered in mud and wreck garden lawns in an spirited effort to get to the traditional destination. [[hottip:*:Unless they are Chinese kids. Who have it easy in this regard, but might aim for other lands.]]

In fiction, characters live the dream. They don't have to go through miles of molten rock, they can tunnel all the way to the opposite side of the globe. They often do so in a comically short time, perhaps accompanied by the noise of a pneumatic drill.

UK writers are more likely to end up in Australia and vice versa. Other destinations are possible, as long as the target is far enough way. Wherever they end up, it will usually be ''conspicuously'' foreign with as many stereotyped visual cues on display as possible.

[[AC:{{Anime}}]]
* Lord Il Palazzo sent Excel and Hyatt through the Earth from Japan to America in an episode of ''ExcelSaga'', during which they actually did pass through the center of the Earth.
* In one episode of ''PaniPoniDash'', the characters did travel through the Earth under mysterious cirsumstances, and wound up in Brazil (during, you guessed it, [[ItsAlwaysMardiGrasInNewOrleans Carnivale]]).

* Likewise, in {{Hayate the Combat Butler}}, Isumi believes that the subway runs underground from Japan to Rio de Janeiro.
* In {{Anime/Pokemon}}, the dub version, Jessie of Team Rocket instructs the others to dig to China.

[[AC:ComicBooks]]
* In the ''{{Dandy}}'' comic, ''Blinky'' once managed to dig all the way to Australia.

[[AC:Commercials]]

[[AC:NewspaperComics]]

* In one storyline from ''{{Pogo}}'', Howland Owl tries to start a business selling "a device for going to China." Said device is, of course, a shovel.

[[AC:{{Film}}]]
* In Terry Gilliam's ''{{The Adventures Of Baron Munchausen}}'', our heroes are thrown into a whirlpool in Mount Etna and fall through the center of the Earth, emerging upside-down in the south seas. Of course, only a complete skeptic would disbelieve such a thing.
* The movie ''{{Magic In The Water}}'' has a frustrated teenager do this, until a Chinese boy pops out and joins him and his younger sister on their sea-monster related adventure.

* Inverted in one film this troper watched about Mount Everest (I can't remember the name), where it is rumored that if you fall into a crevasse, you will fall all the way to America.

[[AC:{{Literature}}]]
* ''ThursdayNext'': It's also the primary form of speedy transportation in the books, the two Gravitubes which go through the Earth to link London with Sydney and Tokyo with Washington DC. Smaller "Overmantle" trains run beneath the crust to more destinations. Note that this world does not have passenger airliners and indeed Thursday considers them impossible when the idea is raised.

[[AC:LiveActionTV]]
* In ''MontyPythonsFlyingCircus'', Ron Obvious tries to be the first man to dig a tunnel from Godalming to Java. He doesn't progress very far.

* {{QI}}: watch it [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?videos=VMqamVimfFg&v=nzzZAe2Dx6g here]] (from 2:12).

[[AC:{{Music}}]]

[[AC:{{Tabletop Games}}]]
* A {{Paranoia}} example adventure called "Into the Great Outdoors" apparently had this. If the PC's got too close to an interesting looking mound on the edge of the map, they faced a HopelessBossFight against what seems to have been (by my rather shaky memory) a Chinese communist {{Zerg Rush}}.

[[AC:VideoGames]]
* Happens in an 8-bit Dizzy game - while the location isn't explicitly stated, you fall through a hole and end up in an upside-down screen featuring a stereotypical Australian.

* PlantsVsZombies has an EasterEgg on the achievement page involving Chinese zombies. It's deceptively simple to find.
* MrDriller is all about digging your way through different parts of the world. Yes, that includes China.

[[AC:Webcomics]]
* In ''QuestionableContent'', Faye once threatened to drink Steve so far under the table he'd wind up in an AA meeting in China.
** And again, where Faye alludes to Marten [[DiggingYourselfDeeper digging himself so deep]] that people in China would get to observe his foot-in-mouth stammering.

[[AC:WebAnimation]]
* The [[HomestarRunner Strong Bad Email]] "alternate universe" had Strong Bad entering a "Dig to China With Your [[InvisibleAnatomy Ears]]" contest against an alternate version of himself. They don't actually make it to China, as the alternate "Tiny-Handed Strong Bad" puts the contest on hold when he unearths a giant mug of root beer. No, seriously.

[[AC:WesternAnimation]]
* [[RupertBear Rupert Bear's]] Chinese friend Pong Ping had a lift that took the occupants straight down to China. It turned over halfway so they wouldn't arrive standing on their heads.
* One example dealing more directly with a child's attempts: {{Arthur}}'s 2 friends' summer project was to dig all the way to the center of the Earth. They never succeeded because summer ended.
* In the animated adaptation of ''BabyBlues'', Wanda is talking to Melinda while Rodney and Megan are digging. When she asks what they're doing, they say, what else, "We're digging to China!" Except they hit a gas pipe and when they went inside, Melinda threw a cigarette into the hole. HilarityEnsues.
* The ''New ScoobyDoo Movies'' episode that crossed over with the animated version of ''TheAddamsFamily'' saw Pugsley digging to China through his sandbox. When Morticia chides him for being ridiculous, Pugsley tells the Chinese boy just under the surface that he'll have to go back home.
* An episode of ''[[WesternAnimation/TwoStupidDogs 2 Stupid Dogs]]'' had the little dog constantly falling down a hole and ending up alternately in America and China. Predictably, there was a cat just outside each hole.
* In the ''[[DextersLaboratory Dexter's Laboratory]]'' episode "D & DD", Dexter's [[BlandNameProduct Monsters and Mazes]] character ("Hodo, the [[{{Hobbits}} Furry-Footed Burrower]]") digs a tunnel to escape a dragon, winds up in China... and is nearly eaten by an ''Asian-style'' dragon.
** This might be a GeniusBonus joke for ''D&D'' nerds, since in the then-current edition, Asian dragons were much deadlier opponents than Western ones.
* ''LooneyTunes'', though the hole is generally created by the character falling, the character getting smashed into the ground so hard he ends up on the other side.
** On one occasion Wile E. Coyote somehow ends up tunneling through the Earth to China, where he meets a Chinese Road Runner (identical to the American one, but wearing a [[OnceAcceptableTargets stereotypical Chinese hat]]).

* There was a ''{{Popeye}}'' cartoon based on the Red Shoes where Olive mentions that, if she doesn't stop dancing, she's going to dig herself to China, which she does in the next scene we see her in.
* In one episode of ''CourageTheCowardlyDog'', Courage dig a hole to China in order to avoid a monster. Of course, there's a Chinese dragon waiting on the other side and it chases him back.
* Referenced in ''TheSimpsons'', when Homer accidentally drops a jug full of pennies into the ground:
-->'''Homer:''' Hello? China? ... Little help?

* In one episode of ''I Am Weasel'', Baboon managed to dig all the way to the other side of the world. This troper is sorry to say he can't remember exactly how, but the machine he used made a lot of noise.
* The Diggers in ''{{Recess}}'' never get anywhere, but the sign next to their hole says "China or Bust!"
** They got to China once, the one time they didn't try. They were promptly attacked by Chinese kindergardeners.
* ''SparkleFriends: High Score'', a cartoon from New Zealand, had them dig to Japan, funnily enough. You'd think they would choose somewhere that wasn't in the same hemisphere... (Does this even ''count'' as "western" animation?)

* In one of the segments from the TimonAndPumbaa series featuring the Hyenas, they ended up digging to China...from Africa. Clearly, their tunnel curved a bit.

[[AC:Other]]

* [[http://www.idlewords.com/2007/04/the_alameda-weehawken_burrito_tunnel.htm The Alameda-Weehawken burrito tunnel]].

%% No Real Life examples please: we can't actually dig a hole through our planet.
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->Your dream holiday to China seems closer than ever, as you look down that first small hole and dream of the tunnel to come. It's months, nay, years of backbreaking labor, but eventually you succeed in your lifelong dream of starving to death in a futile manner.
-> --''PickUpThePhoneBoothAndAisle''

Remember the first time as a kid you learned the Earth was round and all those countries on the far side of the map could actually be thought of as beneath you? What was the first thing you tried straight after? You began to dig. Then an hour later when you were covered in mud, the garden lawn was a mess and it was getting dark, you got tired and went inside. In fiction though, the characters [[RuleOfFunny do not have to deal with trivial realities]] such as E. coli, miles of molten rock at over 5700 Kelvin and [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking bedtimes]]. In fiction then your childhood dreams can be realized with characters digging all the way to China.

The characters may not be starting from the correct antipodes to China, sometimes the writer may pick somewhere else like India or Australia and that is normally irrelevant because the childhood dream was to find the exotic and far off land and different countries will use other different countries for that. [[{{Americanitis}} For the US]] but also for many other countries, it's China (for those from the East, it appears to be Brazil). During a significant part of history China was the hardest place to reach for Western cultures. It did however become "closer" to reach once the West coast of the US was colonized in a more realistic method of using the Earth's curvature to reach a far off place. There are perhaps remains of that idea in the notions our culture passes around and onto our children: [[AnAesop that if one picks a direction and strikes forth determinately in that direction, one can reach any marvelous destination.]]

Note that prosaically, the East Asia/South America pairing is the only ''correct'' antipodal relationship ever used for this trope.[[hottip:*:If going directly through the Earth's molten core can be said to be more "correct" than traveling at an angle.]] Neither Europe nor North America, naturally, are anywhere ''near'' opposite China. Most of North America's opposite nothing but the vast Indian Ocean and a few scattered islands; some of the northernmost bits do oppose Antarctica. Australia's opposite number is a similarly boring stretch of the Atlantic (although if you took a boat from Perth a few miles out, you can dig to Bermuda); Africans could only dig their way into the Pacific (except for some Moroccans and a few ''very'' lucky Botswanans); Europeans and West Asians end up in the Pacific or Antarctic ocean, except for some Spaniards or Portuguese who could strike New Zealand and a few "lucky" Russians far enough North to again be opposite Antarctica. There are a number of Google Earth-based toys demonstrating this, including [[http://www.zefrank.com/sandwich/tool.html "If The Earth Were A Sandwich"]].

This sad, boring consequence of living on a planet that's over 70% water is, of course, quite cheerfully (not to mention rightly) ignored outright by any story that's already whimsical enough to feature the trope.

Of course, you could always dig the hole at an angle instead of straight down. Then you could end up anywhere!

Now where's that shovel?

(Note: to calculate one's antipode, just change the orientation of the latitude (e.g. 44.3 N becomes 44.3 S) and change the orientation of the longitude and subtract it from 180 (e.g. 93 E becomes 87 W). To get a rough idea of it, just use [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Antipodes_LAEA_inverted.png this map]] or [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Antipodes_LAEA.png one like it]].)

* In ''{{Looking for Yoghurt}}'' some kids dig from Japan to Brazil.

* Honorable mention to ''StarWars: Episode One''. A hollow planet full of water? Sure, that works. Somewhere a planetologist is crying.
** The geologist player in DarthsAndDroids has a few theories on how it might work.

* And in the SoBadItsGood movie ''Battle Beneath the Earth'', the Chinese tunnel to America to plant nuclear bombs. It's not ''intentionally'' funny.
* In the BusterKeaton short film "HardLuck," Buster goes off of a diving board at the end of the film and misses the pool, leaving a hole with no discernible bottom. An indeterminate amount of time later, he emerges in Chinese garb with a Chinese wife and their two small children.

* It's also the primary form of speedy transportation in the ''ThursdayNext'' books, the two Gravitubes which go through the Earth to link London with Sydney and Tokyo with Washington DC. Smaller "Overmantle" trains run beneath the crust to more destinations. Note that this world does not have passenger airliners and indeed Thursday considers them impossible when the idea is raised.

[[AC:RealLife]]
* [[http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/A2960633 Some people]] have seriously proposed such a transport mechanism.
* [[http://strangemaps.wordpress.com/2007/04/17/103-earth-sandwich-your-antipodes-have-fins/ Here's]] a map demonstrating how the antipodes really match up. Digging through the Earth from most of North America just gets you into the Indian Ocean.
** Unless you live in Medicine Hat, Alberta. Although then you end up on the Kerguelen Islands, one of the most hellish places on Earth...but then again, it's not much of a change from Medicine Hat.
** If you succeeded at it when starting in Hawaii, you'd hit land. Unfortunately, it's Botswana.
* Don't lie, you tried this as a kid.
** In Australia, we had the same thing, oddly. My young mind rejected the notion, since China was directly north of us and couldn't possibly be gotten to by digging straight down. Also, we had globes in Primary School.
*** We just had two-dimensional maps.
* The WeeklyWorldNews once inverted this trope by running an article about China digging a hole to America to invade it.
** Similarly, TheSun recently ran a report saying that a group of Chinese miners dug their way to Nevada by accident and apologized, and the government kept the incident under wraps.
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<<|ComedyTropes|>>
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<<|RuleOfFunny|>>

* An episode of ''[[TwoStupidDogs 2 Stupid Dogs]]'' had the little dog constantly falling down a hole and ending up alternately in America and China. Predictably, there was a cat just outside each hole.

* Lord Il Palazzo sent Excel and Hyatt through the Earth from Japan to America in an episode of ''ExcelSaga'', during which they actually did pass through the centre of the Earth.

* In Anime/Pokemon , the dub version, Jessie of Team Rocket instructs the others to dig to China

[[AC:Commercial]]

* This troper recalls a commercial from the 90s about either a vacuum cleaner or a carpet shampooer that made use of this trope. To demonstrate how deep the machine was able to clean, they showed a cross-section shot of the earth as the machine cleaned deeper and deeper. It ended with a shot of a Chinese family as they watched in wonder as their carpet seemingly cleaned itself from underneath. (Complete with the caption "Somewhere in China.")

* Parodied in ''PearlsBeforeSwine'' where Pig dug a hole to "Kukistan". Unfortunately the natives wanted to eat Pig for dinner. In the first strip characters comment to each other that Kukistan doesn't exist, but the editors felt that digging to China would offend their Asian readers, so the strip was digitally altered. Fortunately, they note, this'll surely make the originals valuable rarities fo any who might happen to buy them.

* In Terry Gilliam's ''{{The Adventures Of Baron Munchausen}}'', our heroes are thrown into a whirlpool in Mount Etna and fall through the centre of the Earth, emerging upside-down in the south seas. Of course, only a complete skeptic would disbelieve such a thing.

* Honorable mention to ''StarWars: Episode One''. A hollow planet full of water? Sure, that works. Somewhere a planetologist is crying.\

* One example dealing more directly with a child's attempts: {{Arthur}}'s 2 friends' summer project was to dig all the way to the centre of the Earth. They never succeeded because summer ended.

<<|RuleOfFunny|>>

Note that prosaically, the East Asia/South America pairing is the only ''correct'' antipodal relationship ever used for this trope. Neither Europe nor North America, naturally, are anywhere ''near'' opposite China. Most of North America's opposite nothing but the vast Indian Ocean and a few scattered islands; some of the northernmost bits do oppose Antarctica. Australia's opposite number is a similarly boring stretch of the Atlantic (although if you took a boat from Perth a few miles out, you can dig to Bermuda); Africans could only dig their way into the Pacific (except for some Moroccans and a few ''very'' lucky Botswanans); Europeans and West Asians end up in the Pacific or Antarctic ocean, except for some Spaniards or Portuguese who could strike New Zealand and a few "lucky" Russians far enough North to again be opposite Antarctica. There are a number of Google Earth-based toys demonstrating this, including [[http://www.zefrank.com/sandwich/tool.html "If The Earth Were A Sandwich"]].

(Note: to calculate one's antipode, just change the orientation of the latitude (e.g. 44.3 N becomes 44.3 S) and change the orientation of the longitude and subtract it from 180 (e.g. 93 E becomes 87 W)).

* In {{mr driller}} is all about digginng your way through different parts of the world, yes, including China.

* The [[HomestarRunner Strong Bad Email]] "alternate universe" had Strong Bad entering a "Dig to China With Your [[InvisibleAnatomy Ears]]" contest against an alternate version of him. They don't actually make it to China, as the alternate "Tiny-Handed Strong Bad" puts the contest on hold when he unearths a giant mug of root beer. No, seriously.

* In the animated adaptation of ''BabyBlues'', Wanda is talking to Melinda while Rodney and Megan are digging. When she asks what they're doing, they say, what else, "We're digging to china!" Except they hit a gas pipe and when they went inside, Melinda threw a cigarette into the hole. HilarityEnsues.
* An episode of the animated ''AddamsFamily'' saw Pugsley digging to China through the sandbox. When Morticia chides him for being ridiculous, he tells the Chinese boy just under the surface that he'll have to go back home.
** Atually, that was during the episode of the new Scooby Doo movies when they appeared.

* In ''[[DextersLaboratory Dexter's Laboratory]]'' , Dexter's character ("Hodo, the [[{{Hobbits}} Furry-Footed Burrower]]") does this in the ''DungeonsAndDragons'' spoof episode to escape a dragon, winds up in China... and is nearly eaten by an Asian-style dragon.

** This was the climax of the classic DonaldDuck/Chip and Dale short "Donald Applecore," offscreen. But you can tell it's China at the other end because of the offensive fake accent. [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=woxP8Ak-nbc]]

* In {{mr driller}} is all about digginng your way through different parts of the world, including China.

* In ''LegionOfSuperheroes'', Mon-El, Recently freed from [[FateWorseThanDeath the Phantom Zone]], goes through the earth to get from East Coast North America to Japan. Supergirl questions this and Mon-el explained that this was the first time in 1,000 years he had a physical form, and actually wanted to feel the rock he was plowing through.

Note that prosaically, the East Asia/South America pairing is the only ''correct'' antipodal relationship ever used for this trope. Neither Europe nor North America, naturally, are anywhere ''near'' opposite China. Most of North America's opposite nothing but the vast Indian Ocean and a few scattered islands; some of the northernmost bits do oppose Antarctica. Australia's opposite number is a similarly boring stretch of the Atlantic (although if you took a boat from Perth a few miles out, you can dig to Bermuda); Africans could only dig their way into the Pacific (except for some Moroccans and a few ''very'' lucky Botswanans); Europeans and West Asians end up in the Pacific or Arctic ocean, except for some Spaniards or Portuguese who could strike New Zealand and a few "lucky" Russians far enough North to again be opposite Antarctica. There are a number of Google Earth-based toys demonstrating this, including [[http://www.zefrank.com/sandwich/tool.html "If The Earth Were A Sandwich"]].

->'''NARRATOR STRONG BAD:''' And so, both Strong Bads entered the 'Dig To China With Your Ears Contest.'
->'''STRONG BAD:''' This is just about... the second or third to worst contest I ever heard of.
->'''NARRATOR STRONG BAD:''' The contest began!
->'''NARRATOR STRONG BAD:''' And tiny-handed Strong Bad rubbed his head on the ground... while our Modern Day Hero maxed and relaxed.
-->-- ''HomestarRunner'' Strong Bad Email 150 "Alternate Universe"

* PlantsVsZombies has an achievement for finding the Chinese zombies. It's deceptively simple.

[[AC:{{Other}}]]

* Honorable mention to ''StarWars: Episode One''. A hollow planet full of water? Sure, that works. Somewhere a planetologist is crying.

* In the BusterKeaton short film "Hard Luck," Buster goes off of a diving board at the end of the film and misses the pool, leaving a hole with no discernible bottom. An indeterminate amount of time later, he emerges in Chinese garb with a Chinese wife and their two small children.

**This was the climax of the classic Donald Duck/Chip and Dale short "Donald Applecore," offscreen. But you can tell it's China at the other end because of the offensive fake accent. [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=woxP8Ak-nbc]]