BAO BAO, SHOU BIAO , YAO MA?

Shanghai’s famous (err ….notorious to the big bros like BOSS, LV, Ermenegildo Zegna, Prada, Gucci, ..…) Xiang Yang Market is shutting down in a few months.

I believe this is not new to the locals and the tourists. I have been hearing my friends and colleagues saying “Better go grab something as the vendors are trying to get rid of their goods before the market closes for good”

I have made several trips to this famous market with some friends and yes …these ridiculously-cheap-but- look-really-real LVs, BOSS, Taggies, Kenneth Cole, NorthFace, Lowies….have lived up to their reputation… CHEAP, LOOK REAL

The vendors have been resilent, despite the harsh death sentence of XiangYang market. They have already chosen to operate in another way. They resort to touting. We probably cannot expect to see them displaying such goods in broad-day light but be reassured that you will be asked “ Bao Bao, Shou Biao, yao ma?” (bags, watches, u want?) as you mingled among the tourists and local shoppers.

Anyway, I find their way of getting business amusing. I thought they wanted to keep the sale of counterfeit goods, discrete. On contrary, they approach almost everyone who passes by them and ask them in a hush-hush-don’t-let-anyone-know-I-am-selling-fake-goods manner…..

“Bao Bao, Shou Biao, yao ma?”

Many have viewed the decision to shut down Xiang Yang Market as a “WAYANG” (Malay word for OPERA) performed by the chinese government to appease the big bros of WTO.

Do u think the shutting down of XiangYang market will deter or end the sale of “cheap-but-look-really-real” goods?

I think the answer is apparent and best supported by the good-old-economics....SUPPLY & DEMAND