Phony Haibaos confiscated by chengguan
- Source: Global Times
- [09:32 July 14 2010]
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A woman hawks Haibao knockoffs to visitors in May, outside the Expo Park, not far from the China Pavilion. Photo: IC
By Ni Dandan
The streets surrounding the Expo Park remained quiet Tuesday, after chengguan confiscated thousands of fake Haibao souvenirs from vendors following a five-day crackdown on illegal sales of the phony goods.
The raids were successful due to support from local police, according to Dai Jinliang, head of the chengguan team in Luwan district, in charge of catching the vendors selling the products near the No.1 and No.9 gates of the park on Luban and Madang roads.
"The situation was getting out of control near the park, with vendors popping up everywhere, so we decided to get tough on them, instead of simply letting them off the hook by turning a blind eye," he told the Global Times Tuesday.
Most of the items collected included fake Haibao stuffed toys and tiny, portable fold-up chairs frequently used by visitors inside the park when waiting in long queues at pavilions, said Dai.
"Vendors have been making a small fortune out of poor-quality chairs that collapse once people sit on them, and the smelly stuffed Haibaos likely pose some kind of health risk to young children, so we thought that we better take possession of them so they don't keep selling them," he added.
Last month was the peak season for selling the small chairs, a security guard, who patrols the area around Gate No.1, told the Global Times Tuesday.
"There haven't been as many vendors around this month, even before the chengguan came," the man, who asked not to be identified, told the Global Times Tuesday. "Lately, more visitors are seen carrying their own chairs into the park."
Several visitors bringing their own stools into the park Tuesday said that they had bought them for cheap at markets near their homes, or were borrowing used ones from their friends, who have already visited the Expo and no longer had any use for them.
But even with fewer vendors in sight these days, chengguan will continue to monitor the situation closely, said Dai.
"We've discovered that most of them are active between 6 am and 11 am, as well as from 4 pm to midnight, when the park sees more visitors through its gates," he said. "So, this is when we tighten up efforts with local police."
Dai added that the next task is to track down suppliers providing vendors with the cheap goods, in order to effectively put a stop to the illegal sales.
