Opinion: Letter From the Editor ... in China
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Editorial Page Editor Andrés Martinez is currently in China, and sends along some impressions:
Paging Dan Glickman: On my first day in China, I stumbled upon pirated DVDs of “Mission Impossible 3” at the sprawling Xiangyang Fashion and Gift Market. Fake Lakers jerseys are also popular, though not as hot as the faux Nike Barcelona Ronaldinho jerseys. My favorite items at the market were the huge Cultural Revolutionish bilingual banners at the entrance of this piracy haven. In English they read: “Assert intellectual properties is our common duty.” But who knows about the accuracy of the translation? As far as I know, the Chinese characters could actually read “Who would pay full price for Versace?” Some folks in Shanghai do pony up for the real deal, whether it’s Versace or Ferragamo or Zegna.... Shanghai isn’t just the most bourgeois communist city I have ever been in, it may be the most bourgeois city I’ve ever been in, period. Within a five block radius of my hotel, I count four Beverly Center-sized malls. The one next door, Plaza 66, is a gleaming glass pavilion with all the swank brands being peddled at the Xiangyang market. It’s way too upscale for tourists. The mall feels like it belongs in Vegas, attached to one of the high-roller casinos. And I am sure some of the cash-rich Chinese customers are Steve Wynn’s baccarat players. You see two types of gawkers wandering around Shanghai in disbelief at all the new wealth -- foreigners, and Chinese from the provinces.