Shanzhai

The term shanzhai was first used for its literal meaning, which referred to defensible mountain forts and strongholds, usually in areas on the outer reaches of imperial government control. During the Song dynasty (960–1279), shanzhai came to describe groups of bandits who opposed and evaded the corrupt authorities to perform deeds they saw as justified. One of the most well known uses of shanzhai in this way is in the story Water Margin. Some shanzhai products are created with the intent to deceive buyers, although others are created with features not included in their respective authentic counterparts, Unlike counterfeiters, producers of shanzhai goods typically do not conceal the nature of their product and purchasers are generally aware of the true nature of the goods. ==Products==

Typical shanzhai products include imitators of high-end electronics and fashion products that imitate the visual appearance and function of leading brands. During the early-2000s, early instances of shanzhai production began, mostly with simple counterfeiting of electronic goods including DVD and MP3 players in cities such as those in the Pearl River Delta. By the end of 2006, it is estimated that shanzhai mobile phone manufacturers accounted for around 30 percent of the domestic phone market in China. In 2009, it was reported that shanzhai mobile phones could be sold for about $100 to $150 USD, while production costs were only about US$20. In 2010, the Financial Times estimated that shanzhai phones accounted for about 20 percent of the global 2G mobile phone market. Demand for these 2G-era shanzhai mobile phones was not only in China, but particularly in developing countries in Asia, Africa, and Latin America as well. with an iPhone OS 3-like user interface. The prevalence of shanzhai phones is usually attributed to their low price, multi-functional performance, and imitations of trendy mobile phone design. Although shanzhai companies do not use branding as a marketing strategy, they are known for their flexibility of design to meet specific market needs. Reflecting the interests of customers, some shanzhai companies reflect politics and culture through their products, often alongside parody. One of the most well-publicized examples of this was during Barack Obama's 2008 U.S. presidential election campaign, when some shanzhai mobile phone companies began to include Obama-based themes in their goods and advertisements. At least one reseller was subject to legal demands from Apple. • One company that earned notoriety for producing shanzhai smartphones is Goophone, which in 2012 was reported to have filed a patent for the "Goophone i5", a MediaTek-powered clone marketed prior to the real iPhone 5's official release. Internet Due to the growth of internet access in China, websites have been created that attempt to spoof real ones, some with the intent to scam. In 2019, the Ministry of Public Security reported that since 2016 more than 5,000 shanzhai websites had been shut down, alongside 16,000 online groups, and 20,000 accounts. Some of these were said to include deceptive wording in their names, with terms such as "Central" () "China" ( or ) and "National" () used to imitate real government websites and users. == Regulation ==

The legality of shanzhai products varies. E-commerce platform Pinduoduo has been significantly criticised in domestic Chinese media for selling shanzhai products. After it was listed on the Nasdaq stock exchange in 2018, China's State Administration for Market Regulation announced probes into the firm based on reports of counterfeit materials available on the platform. China's 2018 E-Commerce Law makes platform companies jointly liable for counterfeit goods sold through their platforms if they have prior knowledge of such sales. These liability risks have caused platforms to be stricter in their view of shanzhai products. == Subculture ==

The subculture surrounding shanzhai both covers the subculture that developed among groups producing shanzhai goods, such as in the Pearl River Delta, as well as a more generally-supported subculture based on parodying popular franchises and trends. Some of the most well-known events include the ''CCSTV New Year's Gala'', Shanzhai Lecture Room (), Shanzhai Olympic Torch Relay (), and Shanzhai Nobel Prize (). One thing these events have in common is that they all imitate high-end, popular yet authoritative events in which grass-roots power usually has no participating role. Shanzhai movies are another profit-driven shanzhai phenomenon. These movies usually have low budgets, yet achieve commercial success by parodying, making fun of or borrowing elements from high-end Hollywood blockbuster movies. One of the first shanzhai movies is Ning Hao's Crazy Stone. It imitates the multi-angle shooting, rapid cutting and stunts that are usually used in Hollywood action movies, yet it retains a grass-roots set up. With only a $3 million HKD budget, Crazy Stone achieved a box office revenue of $22 million HKD. == Critical reception ==

tennis shoe marketed under the name "Adibos" while using Adidas' logo In the Western world in countries such as the United States, shanzhai products are often viewed as humorous fakes due to their common use of misspelled or comical names imitating those of real companies. Generally, shanzhai products are viewed in the West as low-quality, cheap, and fake. However, philosopher Byung-Chul Han describes shanzhai products as having their own value and benefits: In 2019, the Jinhongye Paper Group successfully won a lawsuit against the Hangzhou Fuyang Paper Company for their shanzhai version of one of Jinhongye's products, which was regarded as an improvement in commercial protections. Jinhongye produces high quality paper marketed as Qingfeng (), which Hangzhou Fuyang imitated in their sale of paper similarly marketed as Qingfeng (). After a ruling by the Hangzhou Internet Court, Hangzhou Fuyang was forced to pay 1 million RMB to Jinhongye and to stop marketing their paper as Qingfeng. Business analyst Michael Zakkour believes the phenomena of shanzhai reduces foreign investment in China, discourages foreign companies from marketing copyable products there, and deters them from using Chinese services and technologies that might result in their intellectual property being copied. == See also ==