China is well known for its many counterfeit products including purses, dresses, shoes, watches, DVDs etc... The government is trying to shut down the selling of these illegal products, and this will be a huge step:

ONE of the city's best known, and most controversial, landmarks will be shut down for good, government officials announced yesterday. The Xiangyang Road Fashion and Gift Market, a haven for both tourists looking for cheap goods and vendors selling counterfeit products, will definitely be shut down, although the government has not decided on a timeline for the closure. [..] The bureau last year dealt with 1,227 cases of trademark violations and confiscated more than 1.6 million pirated goods from small commodity markets, including the Xiangyang Market. [..]

There will always be places to buy pirate stuff, but if you are planning on bringing them to the US, think twice. If you are found by the US customs, you will be fined a huge fee: 50,000USD for a purse, 5,000US$ for a pirate DVD. And these are real cases, from people that I know. It's not a myth. You've been warned.

This entry was posted on Thursday, January 05, 2006 at 1/05/2006 09:46:00 AM.