The (Fake) DVD Shop

The dvd shop selling fakes, cleverly remained open through Lunar New Year. I was absolutely fascinated. This isn't some hole in the wall joint, or a pathetic little stall by the roadside. It was big, brightly lit, clean, neat and totally like a proper dvd-rental shop. All those covers and box sets. The suppliers' printers are really powerful. I couldn't distinguish them from the original. Even the quality of the dvds is superb. If there's any problem, most people simply bring it back to the shop to exchange for a new one.

Hmmm. I'm reminded of what I saw at TaoBao City (淘宝城), otherwise known as 'City of Fakes'. Nothing original or real is sold in the three or four-storey mall. Buy 'North Face' down jackets at your own risk, because if they don't work, you'll be so screwed. The greatest irony, right at the front lobby, hung government banners proclaiming stern reprisal against non-licenced reproductions of several brands of luxury goods, and about the protection of intellectual property rights. In Chinese, it read, “保护知识产权，打击卖假货行为”. Whatever.

I was really really tempted to get the box sets of BBC's 'Human Planet', 'Oceans', and the sorts. I'm not very principled when it comes to movies. (Music is different. Don't ask me why the distinction.) Fake or original movies, I'll just watch them as long as the quality is good. I don't need hi-definition or blu-ray or whatever, although the fakes now come in blu-ray. Still, with AppleTV, I don't even bother with the fakes very much. However, I've always refused to buy fakes overseas and take them home, not in a stripped down dvd booklet, or the usual 1TB or 16GB external hard disk loaded with all the movies of one's choice. This, and cartons of cigarettes. Never ask me to 'smuggle' them back into Singapore. I'll never do it. Cigarettes, can, but I'll declare the quantity, pay the dutiable fees at Customs upon landing, and charge it back to you. On that note, it's so expensive to smoke. Why don't people just substitute cigarettes with coffee?

The shop's flat screen tv was showing Donnie Yen's ‘14 Blades’ (锦衣卫). I'm a total sucker for kungfu wuxia (武侠) movies. I don't watch it for the plot. I watch it for the action and the stunts. While everyone else shopped, I stood in a corner and was busy watching a good 45 minutes of it, till the friends asked if I wanted to buy to watch at home. I shook my head. Yes, we lingered that long in the shop.

On the way out and round the corner, there were a number of Uyghurs hanging around on the street. (A couple of political issues floated to mind, but these are for private discussions offline.) They whispered harshly to all passers-by. As we walked past, they hissed, "Hashish. Hashish?" Naaah. It's the lousiest grade of all weed. We're done with days of partying and smoking. This is too short a stay to even check out the nice weed, especially not in a country that deems it illegal, and not when we return to a country that imposes stiffer penalties on consumption of weed than other reasonably more serious offences. Alcohol works fine for the now. Not eager to re-hash (pun not intended) those days.