The fake markets

There are many types of markets in Shanghai. Markets consisting of narrow winding streets full of little stalls, to wet markets visited by locals for their daily shopping of food items, to multi story warehouse type buildings full of stalls all selling one type of item. There are antique markets, pearl and stone markets, fashion and gift markets, fabric markets, cloth markets, flower, bird, fish and insect markets, the Muslim street market, the tea market, the glasses market, children's clothing market, the upholstery and bedding market, not to mention the electronics market. There are not just one of these markets but many scattered throughout Shanghai.

One of the first markets we went to was the fake market the most famous and most frequented by westerners. Not to say that these other markets are not selling fake stuff, especial the electronics market.

 The most famous of the fake markets is the Science and Technology Museum fake market. Leading up to the World Expo in 2010 the Shanghai authorities made an effort to crack down on pirated and knockoff goods and gathered up many of these vendors from more public areas and hide them in the basement/metro level of the Science and Technology Museum subway station. This of course is widely talked about in all the guide books.

A short distance from where we live, Meredith and I went to the market the second week we were here. This is a single level maze with rows and rows and rows of stalls selling all of the latest brands. What is really interesting is that not only does the items look like the original but the details, like the tags sewn on the item, the lining in the purse etc, even down to the box it comes in and the labels on the box, it looks identical to the original.

click on pictures to enlarge

We were there only for just over an hour, it was exhausting  walking up and down having someone at every stall entrance asking you if you went to buy a bag, a watch, a belt, shoes etc.  Meredith and I went into one shop selling hand bags. They then ushered us into the back room where there was a room with 4 walls of shelves lined with all the brands. Meredith mentioned a certain brand and the next thing we know a section of shelving turns into a secret door which opens into another smaller room stuffed with the top brands of bags. What an experiences! Needless to say we did return to the shop with ME who has much better bargaining skills and Meredith got the bag she was looking for.

Bargaining Skills, what a hoot, this is a whole other post.