a fake?

a) Today I ate nothing but pizza and chips in Shanghai
b) Actually, I think I prefer Milton Keynes to Shanghai
c) Today I had too much to eat

Can you tell which of the above are fake blog entries by fatmaninshanghai?

a) and b) are easily spotted as fakes - these are the equivalent of the really rubbish Wolex and Kalvin Kleens that can be purchased for not very many RMB all over Shanghai. Most of the ones you get offered in the street are absolute tat and not even worth the few quid they cost.

However, there are some pretty decent fakes out there. fatman and Mrs. f were escorted into the back of a gallery that they just happened to be passing by, past a table of smoking card players (no really, there was a table of 5 men playing cards at the back of the gallery showroom - not suspicious looking at all then...) and ushered up the stairs to a treasure trove of knock-off goods.

All the major fashion brands were represented - LV, Gucci, Dior, Prada, Boss, Armani, Lacoste (Mrs. f picked up a couple of rather nice "Prada" handbags) - along with some not so expected ones. Puma trainers anyone? How about a "goretex" North Face fleece and mountain jacket?

But the bit of this Aladin's cave that I really liked was the watch department. I have always been a sucker for certain watches (but I am too poor, too clumsy and too fickle to risk investing in one in case I can't feed the children / or I break it / or I get bored of it and decide I don't like it after 2 weeks).

I picked up a pretty-convincing-from-a-distance Officine Panerai Luminor and Mrs. f now has a not-that-bad-looking-from-a-few-feet Cartier Tank Francaise. These plus the two handbags (about which I have no idea if they are even vaguely authentic looking copies) cost me 1700 RMB / £120 ish. I did not negotiate well. I am sure I could have done better but it's a bit intimidating being in the back rooms of someone's gallery, behind a table full of smoking men, in a windowless emporium of counterfeit stuff.

Is it wrong to buy knock-off stuff? Yes of course it is. It doesn't help China's effort to integrate into the global economy and therefore it doesn't (in the long-term) help any of the many people whose livelihoods depend on the counterfeit trade - I don't mean the big organised crime dudes that have the stuff made and distribute it (my heart really bleeds for them), I mean the guys peddling it in back streets (and the smoking men guarding the premises).

Do I feel sorry for LV, Gucci, Cartier, blah blah blah? No of course not - mostly I suspect that they are peddling tat in just the same way as the blokes on the corner of the street selling the worst kind of fakes - they just charge a lot more for it. In the very best case they are selling you some quality workmanship and a large helping of expensive branding on the side. In the worst case, your arse will fall out of your shiny trousers just as quickly as if the fancy label had never been sewn in by some poor bastard in Vietnam (or China).

Perversely, being a real dullard and a bit of a train spotter, I keep noticing all the little details that are wrong with my new "Panerai" and this actually makes me want a real one even more than before.

By the way, did you also spot that c) above was also a fake blog entry? On the surface of it, it looks convincing but the true fatman officianado would know that the word "too" should not be there.