Sept. 2, 2007
SPECIAL FROM BEIJING : Fake Olympic Merchandise Big Seller in China
Fourth in a series
By Rene A. Henry
Beijing, China (Special to HNN) -- The last place you would expect to find fake and counterfeit Olympic merchandise would be in China. Yet everywhere you go in this country, street vendors rush you selling caps, T-shirts and other memorabilia with the logo of the Beijing Organizing Committee for the Olympic Games.
For years China has been known as the place to buy fake Rolex and Omega watches and counterfeit Louis Vuitton and Gucci products. In recent years intellectual property attorneys from around the world have been pressuring the Chinese government to crack down on piracy of music and movies, CDs and DVDs, virtually all to no avail.
If you are a Westerner or on a tour bus stopping at any of the favorite tourist attractions in most of the major cities, you will be besieged by the vendors selling counterfeit 2008 Olympic merchandise. In downtown Beijing you can purchase memorabilia anywhere around your hotel or in Tiananmen Square, Forbidden City or the Summer Palace.
Probably the most egregious was at the Great Wall. Here BOCOG has two officially licensed stores selling their complete product lines. I saw vendors selling their fake products right outside the door of these licensed stores, which provide royalties and income for BOCOG.
When I brought this subject up to Sun Weide, the deputy director of media and communications for BOCOG, he said that the Chinese government is working very hard to stop sales of counterfeit products. I asked him why they didn’t do sweeps of the tourist areas and confiscate the fake merchandise, as has been done in other cities. He doubted what I said, even when I told him that one friend on my tour bus made a deal with a vendor and bought 20 baseball caps for US$20. The products are exact copies except for quality detailing.
If the official Olympic organization cannot stop sales of counterfeit and fake products in its own country, the rest of the world will have to just sit back and accept that piracy will continue.
* * * *
Reporter’s Notebook:
-- U.S. and Caribbean athletes, coaches, officials and tourists who fly on domestic Chinese airlines will be pleasantly surprised. I flew on four different domestic airlines and every flight left and arrived on time. £Á couple arrived at our destination early and a gate was always ready. The airlines always served free food and drinks (including local beer) on even a one-hour flight. The service was superb, the Boeing and Airbus planes clean and appearing relatively new and there was more leg room than I can remember on a U.S. domestic flight.
-- The airports I saw in Shanghai, Yichang, Chongqing, Xi¡’An and Beijing appeared to be new and were sparkling and impressive in their open space architecture.
-- This week, the general manager of the Beijing Capital International airport said that passengers will spend no more than three minutes going through customs and less than 10 minutes waiting for a security check. He said that 95 percent of all arriving international travelers will wait no more than 25 minutes before entering the process of check-in and border checks. Another plus is that the airport will provide free food for any passenger who is delayed for more than two hours and free accommodations if flights are delayed for four hours because of the airlines’ reasons. Another new service will be to send delayed luggage on to passengers in Beijing free of charge within 24 hours. Michael Chertoff, U.S. airline management, the FAA and members of Congress should take notice.
--Every hotel I stayed in provided excellent laundry service every day of the week. In most cases laundry picked up by 12 noon will be delivered the same day and this is considered regular service. Rush service, for a 50 percent surcharge, can provide laundry and dry cleaning within just two hours. All hotels are fully staffed because days off are staggered for all private sector employees, not just on Saturdays and Sundays.
* * * *
Rene A. Henry lives in Seattle and is an author and writer who reports on diverse subjects ranging from customer service and crisis management to politics and sports. A native of Charleston, WV, He has more than 35 years of experience in international and Olympic sports as well as crisis management. Many of his commentaries and op-eds are posted on his website at www.renehenry.com.
SPECIAL FROM BEIJING : Fake Olympic Merchandise Big Seller in China
Fourth in a series
By Rene A. Henry
Beijing, China (Special to HNN) -- The last place you would expect to find fake and counterfeit Olympic merchandise would be in China. Yet everywhere you go in this country, street vendors rush you selling caps, T-shirts and other memorabilia with the logo of the Beijing Organizing Committee for the Olympic Games.
For years China has been known as the place to buy fake Rolex and Omega watches and counterfeit Louis Vuitton and Gucci products. In recent years intellectual property attorneys from around the world have been pressuring the Chinese government to crack down on piracy of music and movies, CDs and DVDs, virtually all to no avail.
If you are a Westerner or on a tour bus stopping at any of the favorite tourist attractions in most of the major cities, you will be besieged by the vendors selling counterfeit 2008 Olympic merchandise. In downtown Beijing you can purchase memorabilia anywhere around your hotel or in Tiananmen Square, Forbidden City or the Summer Palace.
Probably the most egregious was at the Great Wall. Here BOCOG has two officially licensed stores selling their complete product lines. I saw vendors selling their fake products right outside the door of these licensed stores, which provide royalties and income for BOCOG.
When I brought this subject up to Sun Weide, the deputy director of media and communications for BOCOG, he said that the Chinese government is working very hard to stop sales of counterfeit products. I asked him why they didn’t do sweeps of the tourist areas and confiscate the fake merchandise, as has been done in other cities. He doubted what I said, even when I told him that one friend on my tour bus made a deal with a vendor and bought 20 baseball caps for US$20. The products are exact copies except for quality detailing.
If the official Olympic organization cannot stop sales of counterfeit and fake products in its own country, the rest of the world will have to just sit back and accept that piracy will continue.
* * * *
Reporter’s Notebook:
-- U.S. and Caribbean athletes, coaches, officials and tourists who fly on domestic Chinese airlines will be pleasantly surprised. I flew on four different domestic airlines and every flight left and arrived on time. £Á couple arrived at our destination early and a gate was always ready. The airlines always served free food and drinks (including local beer) on even a one-hour flight. The service was superb, the Boeing and Airbus planes clean and appearing relatively new and there was more leg room than I can remember on a U.S. domestic flight.
-- The airports I saw in Shanghai, Yichang, Chongqing, Xi¡’An and Beijing appeared to be new and were sparkling and impressive in their open space architecture.
-- This week, the general manager of the Beijing Capital International airport said that passengers will spend no more than three minutes going through customs and less than 10 minutes waiting for a security check. He said that 95 percent of all arriving international travelers will wait no more than 25 minutes before entering the process of check-in and border checks. Another plus is that the airport will provide free food for any passenger who is delayed for more than two hours and free accommodations if flights are delayed for four hours because of the airlines’ reasons. Another new service will be to send delayed luggage on to passengers in Beijing free of charge within 24 hours. Michael Chertoff, U.S. airline management, the FAA and members of Congress should take notice.
--Every hotel I stayed in provided excellent laundry service every day of the week. In most cases laundry picked up by 12 noon will be delivered the same day and this is considered regular service. Rush service, for a 50 percent surcharge, can provide laundry and dry cleaning within just two hours. All hotels are fully staffed because days off are staggered for all private sector employees, not just on Saturdays and Sundays.
* * * *
Rene A. Henry lives in Seattle and is an author and writer who reports on diverse subjects ranging from customer service and crisis management to politics and sports. A native of Charleston, WV, He has more than 35 years of experience in international and Olympic sports as well as crisis management. Many of his commentaries and op-eds are posted on his website at www.renehenry.com.
