One of the things I have learned since I have been to China is that there are good fakes and bad fakes. By that I mean there are things that are faked here that I appreciate and those that I really wish were original. A good reproduction designer handbag, shoe, or clothing item at a fraction of the price of the designer version can be amazing! Certainly there are many of those kinds of things for sale in China however what I was not prepared for were the great variety of products and items that are reproduced, sometimes with truly terrible consequences.
One of the harmless example are fake eggs – much like cartoned egg substitute in the states, here they sell fake eggs that are in the shell and actually look and taste like real eggs but aren’t. Who knows, I may even have purchased some without realizing it. I find this funny and a bit quirky as eggs are not expensive here and abundantly available!
There are also a lot of fake cosmetics for sale here and indeed it is really hard to find the real thing! Fake Mac, fake Chanel, fake OPI, fake Smashbox, I have seen almost every brand and while it looks appealing I would not trust it. The only place to buy cosmetics here as far as I am concerned is Sephora though it is quite pricey; a good mascara here can cost you $40-50 or more. One thing I miss is real perfume! It can be purchased here at Sephora but will cost you 50% more than the same bottle in the states.
Of course there are also lots of reproduced CD’s and DVD’s for purchase though many of the local shops and booths selling such items have been recently raided as the city gears up for the expo and is trying to present a cleaner image to the world. The other day I walked into a DVD store and there was almost nothing on the walls as probably 95% of their stock had been confiscated as it was illegally reproduced, copyrighted material.
Overall I have been pretty lucky with purchases though the other day I did purchase a shirt which shrank about 6 inches in length after I washed it. Since I am past my belly-shirt wearing phase, it has now been relegated to a sleep shirt.
The scariest fake thing here that I have come across is fake liquor. I have gotten ill a few times from drinking just a couple of drinks, certainly not enough to give me a hangover in the states. I am by no means a heavy drinker and have only gotten sick once in my life from drinking before I came to China. Here, liquor is frequently either really poor quality or it is doctored with something to recreate the effects of alcohol. One of my friends told me of going to a high end bar in town and of losing consciousness after having one drink there with her husband. He took her to the hospital and the staff there said that the drink likely had the date rape drug added to it. I have taken to drinking bottled drinks like beer or wine and making sure that I see them open the bottle. Thankfully Tsingtao beer is available at almost any bar or restaurant and is reasonably priced and safe.
As with many things, there is a good side and a bad side to ease of access to fake or reproduction items in China. I have learned that the price tag does not necessarily indicate the real deal either. So as I live here, I am slowly learning what to look for and how to be careful so that I can enjoy the good aspects and minimize the bad.
I will finish off with a comment about the photo I included at the top of the posting. While it is beautiful, it is of course a fake ; )
One of the harmless example are fake eggs – much like cartoned egg substitute in the states, here they sell fake eggs that are in the shell and actually look and taste like real eggs but aren’t. Who knows, I may even have purchased some without realizing it. I find this funny and a bit quirky as eggs are not expensive here and abundantly available!
There are also a lot of fake cosmetics for sale here and indeed it is really hard to find the real thing! Fake Mac, fake Chanel, fake OPI, fake Smashbox, I have seen almost every brand and while it looks appealing I would not trust it. The only place to buy cosmetics here as far as I am concerned is Sephora though it is quite pricey; a good mascara here can cost you $40-50 or more. One thing I miss is real perfume! It can be purchased here at Sephora but will cost you 50% more than the same bottle in the states.
Of course there are also lots of reproduced CD’s and DVD’s for purchase though many of the local shops and booths selling such items have been recently raided as the city gears up for the expo and is trying to present a cleaner image to the world. The other day I walked into a DVD store and there was almost nothing on the walls as probably 95% of their stock had been confiscated as it was illegally reproduced, copyrighted material.
Overall I have been pretty lucky with purchases though the other day I did purchase a shirt which shrank about 6 inches in length after I washed it. Since I am past my belly-shirt wearing phase, it has now been relegated to a sleep shirt.
The scariest fake thing here that I have come across is fake liquor. I have gotten ill a few times from drinking just a couple of drinks, certainly not enough to give me a hangover in the states. I am by no means a heavy drinker and have only gotten sick once in my life from drinking before I came to China. Here, liquor is frequently either really poor quality or it is doctored with something to recreate the effects of alcohol. One of my friends told me of going to a high end bar in town and of losing consciousness after having one drink there with her husband. He took her to the hospital and the staff there said that the drink likely had the date rape drug added to it. I have taken to drinking bottled drinks like beer or wine and making sure that I see them open the bottle. Thankfully Tsingtao beer is available at almost any bar or restaurant and is reasonably priced and safe.
As with many things, there is a good side and a bad side to ease of access to fake or reproduction items in China. I have learned that the price tag does not necessarily indicate the real deal either. So as I live here, I am slowly learning what to look for and how to be careful so that I can enjoy the good aspects and minimize the bad.
I will finish off with a comment about the photo I included at the top of the posting. While it is beautiful, it is of course a fake ; )