There are numerous temples to visit in Beijing: "Temple of Heaven", "Lama Temple", "Confucius Temple", etc... but the one “temple” most visitors like to tour is the temple of fakes or counterfeit goods. In these several stories high buildings you’ll find all the “Gucci”, “Prada”, “Louis Vuitton” or “Rolex” (to name but a few) you want. They are several of these markets around town; Yashow (just around the corner from us), Hongqiao or Pearl Market and probably the most famous among tourist, the Silk Market.
So I was a little surprise to learn that 7 stalls at the above mentioned Silk Market were being closed for 7 days on Sunday for selling fakes good. Which made me wonder: What about the other 1.000+ stalls do they really sell genuine goods?!!
Beijing Silk Market Vendors Closed For Selling Fake Goods
Seven vendors at Beijing's Silk Market have been ordered to stop and rectify their business for selling counterfeit famous brand goods.[..]
A representative from Silk Market said that according to an agreement signed between the market and an anti-counterfeit company, whenever the latter issues a notarized document as evidence that there are fake goods in the market, the market must punish the seller concerned immediately.
Things got a little heated among the cramped aisles of the Silk Market on Sunday morning as stall vendors and market management clashed over an order to shutter 7 stalls for 7 days as punishment for selling fake goods.
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| We are safe... no more fakes!! |
Doing some digging around for this post I found out that the Silk Market has its own Wikipedia entry!
Silk Street (秀水街 - Xiu4 Shui3 Jie1, aka Silk Market) is a shopping center in Beijing that accommodates over 1,700 retail vendors, notorious among international tourists for their wide selection of counterfeit designer brand apparels.
The Silk Street (aka Xiushui Market) attracts approximately 20,000 visitors daily (from 9am to 9pm) on weekdays and between 50,000 and 60,000 on weekends as of 2006. This 35,000-square-meter complex house 1,700 retail vendors and over 3,000 salespeople spread over seven floors with three levels of basements.
