Sunday, March 25, 2007

Shop, shop, shop



A vast range of products from high end expensive designer labels to cheap imitation ones can be easily sourced here. Anything you can produce, they can & will reverse-engineer it to come out with a cheaper version. Hey, afterall this is arguably the imitation capital of the world. There used to be a centralized marketplace for these imitation products, i heard but it had ceased operation since the government launched a crackdown less than a year ago. These days, distribution channels are much scattered & transactions take place in a less open environment; usually shops in some malls would have hidden chambers inside their premises where stuffs are stocked, some even leads to backlanes into people's homes...

Goods come in different grades too. Higher grades with workmanship so remarkable, it becomes quite impossible to distinguish from an original. At a higher price tag of course, but costs only a fraction compared to the real stuff. Prada, LV, Burberry, Nike... you name it, they have it.
Here bargaining is an art form. Once you get the hang of it, you just can stop buying... & avoiding getting mindfucked into buying something i don't need, is a constant struggle.

Still, i prefer stuffs that are distinctively China's. Having bigger leverage in terms of currency makes shopping a joy. 4DVDs for 10RMB, that's like RM1.17 a piece.



No comments: