Submitted by: Xiaofei Song

Last time when I visited home in Beijing, the most topics my friend talked about is “Shan Zhai”.  After come back to the states, I did some research on it and found that it is very interest phenomenon to share with the class.

Shan Zhai is the name of this type of product. There is not direct translation of this into English, but it basically means “Cloned”. This kind of cell phones are manufactured small factories in south of China. They copied the design and function of the newest branded cell phone without authorized and sold with very low price.

This phenomenon appeared several years ago. With more people desire to have the most up-dated cell phone, “Shan Zhai”  has become more and more popular and developed into a subculture in China.

Please check this video and blog: “Shan Zhai Ji” in Google.cn Most Searched List

Please also check this article: Decoding Shan Zhai Ji - the opposite side of brand chasing

Here are my questions:

What do you think about this phenomenon?

Why “Shan Zhai Ji” becomes so popular?

Are you going to buy one during your trip in China?