Just when you thought that China was out of new ideas in the the “faking” department, something more elaborate and larger than any fake iPhone has caught the attention of many.

Meet the fake Apple store:

The Apple iPhone and iPad have become a major hit in the Chinese market. Many businessmen were quick to capitalize on such trend. One decided Instead of just selling fake Apple products, to fake the entire Apple store.

The stores are located in Kunming and from a distance, look just like one of Apple’s iconic full-service retail stores. Featuring a glass exterior, pale wood display tables, a winding staircase and giant posters displaying Apple products, and a neatly organized accessories wall. Even the employees wear the blue shirts and Apple-emblazoned name tags similar to those worn by Apple Store employees in China.

Since the story broke out, 2 of the 5 fake stores in Kunming have closed. Some netizens have reported that the stores were selling genuine apple products. However, the stores cannot be found on Apple’s list of authorized retailers.

China has only four authorized Apple stores in Beijing and Shanghai, although the electronics firm has labeled China a “key market”. In contrast, it has 236 stores in the United States.

Given the insanely strong demand for the iPhone and iPad in China and the extremely large population in China, it would be wise to increase production and the number of stores. Far worse than these fake Apple stores in China are the scalpers that make Apple products constantly unavailable and Apple’s inability to properly deal with the matter.

Source: WSJ and chinadaily

odidos

The official flagship store of the fake brand…


During the massive salt rush that struck China after the Fukushima nuclear disaster, a Chinese man from Wuhan city spends 27,000 CNY (around 4,123 USD) to purchase 13,000 catties (around 8 tons) of salt.

Now after the panic across China has subsided, this man wants a refund. As expected, no stores were willing to offer refunds.

via CQIT

shanghai-barbie-store-3

After 2 years of living in her six-story, 38,000-square-foot Shanghai mansion, Mattel’s iconic American doll Barbie is moving out.

The Shanghai flagship store, which featured a spa, a cosmetics counter, and a cocktail bar, was launched in March 2009 (Barbie’s 50th birthday) in an attempt to expand the market into China. However sales failed to meet expectations and the firm was forced to cut its targets within the first eight months of the store’s existence.

Mattel is taking a positive spin on the situation, claiming that the store “served its purpose and was meant only to establish Barbie’s brand in China”. Barbie will soon be jumping in her “Barbie Pink Bus” to head on tour in the near future, a spokeswoman said, declining to disclose further details.

In the meantime, Barbie is still being sold in other shopping outlets across China.

A notice announcing Barbie’s new “mobile” lifestyle in China after her Shanghai mansion went into foreclosure can be found here.

I personally think a lot of these Western companies enter China’s market with an overly optimistic outlook and ambitious goals. To see what I’m talking about, Just take a look at the photo gallery after the jump.
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Taiwan has some of the craziest stories.

A convenience store employee had his face rubbed with feces by an angry customer who tried to use the store’s bathroom. The customer urgently needed to shit but was faced with a locked toilet door. Unable to hold it in anymore, the customer let it all slip out. Being more angry than embarrassed, this customer started going on a rampage which ended with poo everywhere.

See for yourselves:

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