I knew when I threw away the vast majority of my outdoor clothes and equipment a few years, that I would sooner or later need them. I kept one small rucksack but all my other gear went to friends or charity shops. Now I find myself going out shopping again for my trip to Sumatra.
When I first arrived in China I was determined not to succumb to the fake markets. I was going to buy everything genuine. After all it’s immoral to buy fake products isn’t it. When I bought a PC I wanted real Window operating system but I soon found out that it was not possible to buy one – even when I offered to pay a decent price for it, nobody could source an authentic copy do now I am running on ripped off Windows 7.
I was also determined to have real MS Office and Photoshop but the person who installed it on my PC put fake everything on for me free of charge before I could stop him.
DVDs are another area where it is impossible to buy real films. This is not an exaggeration – I don’t mean that it’s difficult. I mean there is nowhere which sells genuine DVDs. There are many shops full to the rafters with ripped off DVDs which the govt are clearly happy to allow to operate. You can get a recent release or an old classic, BBC documentaries and complete TV series for £1.20 per disk – irrespective of quality.
So after several years of trying to fight it, I have given up the battle and now happily buy everything fake and that extends to replacing my outdoor equipment. Yesterday I managed to get a large North Face duffle bag for £15 as well as a pair of Columbia trekking shoes for the same price and a reasonably good head torch for a fiver.
There’s no place for anyone with morals here – it’s almost impossible to live a normal life without buying fake goods. So that is why, for this expedition I am kitting myself out with fake good. Every day I feel a bit more Chinese!