Beijing's Silk Market is a Western shopper's Aladdin's Cave. Dolce & Gabbana, Gucci and Prada handbags for eight quid; silk robes for a tenner; Dior, Mont Blanc, Chanel and Gucci cuff-links for a couple of quid.
As they fabricate these high quality, accurate copies, one wonders what the workmen must think of us in the West who pay, in our own countries, such exorbitant prices for these sort of goods.
They must think we're daft. And that thought probably makes them feel pretty much justified in pursuing their trade.
While we sure as heck get brownie points for bringing this stuff back from a trip.
And the ripped-off original manufacturers? Well they aren't exactly pricing to cost plus a reasonable margin. At their margins they could be seen as the Grand Panjandrums of the rip-off.
A case, maybe, of the biter bit.
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