Fakes, fakes & more fakes

Though Mrs B will no doubt tell me off for saying; the Chinese love nothing more than buying fake goods, well of course there is gambling I suppose. But in the main its shopping without the cost! Buying a fake is like eating three cheeseburgers instead on one big mac and all for a fraction of the price.

Having been to China and now a full time resident in Hong Kong fake shopping is as much fun as it has always been (though these days you have to search a little harder). But news reaches me this morning as I take the Star Ferry to work that those ingenious chaps (the Chinese fakers we'll call them, though some mean people call them "criminals") have now reached a new high (or is that low) - they are faking bottled mineral water.

Yes, you did read that correctly. According to the SMCP over 50% of all bottled water in Beijing tested is fake.

As I read this news snippet in the paper I couldn't help but smile. How do you fake mineral water (Coke's Disani I suppose?) Lets imagine my conversation with Mrs B;

Mrs B: Darling, is that beer you are drinking?
Me (shocked surprise) Why heavens no! Its water... Wait a second, no its not! Damn you criminals!

It turns out that what is happening is that people are using tap water then selling it on as "mineral water." Interesting, as I have heard that the tap water in Beijing often has the same colour as beer so how they are getting away with this scam I'll never know.

Anyway, I have to dash as I have just realised that I am late for a meeting, how odd it would seem that my Rolex stopped working 2 hours ago...