Before I visited the electronics market in Shenzhen, but this time I visited the biggest one in Beijing. Consisting of a number of buildings, countless small shops. I was warned everything in this market is fake. But fake doesn’t always mean bad.
I visited a few times. You can’t get everything here. For example, no Dell Mini computers. First I wanted to get a new battery for my computer. After asking around, I got the same price I got last year for one. They didn’t have any authentic ones, only fakes, they said. It works ok.
Next, I helped buy a hard drive for a friend. I had a hard time believing the Chinese were making fake hard drives, but when I typed in the serial number for the drive I found out there is no warranty, so it is fake. When you put the hard drive in the computer, it shows generic drive, no model number or anything. It works ok and the price was good though.
I bought some memory and it turned out to be real and about the same price I could pay in the US.
Things are not as they first seem in this market. When you walk around, it looks like everyone is selling the same things. But it is only part of what they are selling. The more illegal type things are hidden away. In the games area I asked for Xbox 360 games at a small shop. The man pulled out a book where I could flip through the game covers and pick out a game for about $1.
These are not games that someone recorded on a DVD-R, but mass produced in factories by the thousands. These stamped discs apparently can work in any Xbox 360 console. In the US, people modify their game console, download games, burn a DVD, then play. In China, people just buy $1 games and play. It makes any piracy here in the US look small scale.
It makes me wonder what else is hidden from view there.