Counterfeit culture has been growing in popularity in many Asian countries, especially China. But why has it grown so much, why is it so popular and how hard is it to land some counterfeit goods. In order to explore the culture of counterfeit, I must first get to grips as to what exactly is counterfeiting.

Counterfeiting is the practice of replicating an already existing product in order to take advantage of the status of the brand or product being imitated. Counterfeiting is hugely popular not just among those selling it but among those buying as well, as of 2012 counterfeit goods accounted for $250 billion in sales (Unodc.org, 2017). And as of 2015 “The global market for counterfeit goods reached $1.77 trillion” (Ling & Juan, 2016).

Through researching this counterfeit culture in China, I have become aware of a term used for this copycat manufacturing known as “Shanzhai”.  “Shanzhai has…