Shanzhai (??): Chinese imitation and pirated brands and goods, particularly electronics.

Today we present a rich, tasty stew of shanzhai goodness. First off, a Lenovo affiliate gets into the knockoff game console business:

In what can only be described as a bizarre tale of mystery, a Lenovo co-founded company has decided to produce what amounts to an Xbox 360 knockoff as well as a motion sensing peripheral that unquestionably takes inspiration from Kinect.

Hey, at least it's not called an "iBox"!

Lenovo of course has been hot on the imitation trail for some time now, with products like the “LePhone” and the forthcoming “LePad.” I’ll let you guess which competitor they are targeting. I would have expected that the shanzhai Xbox would have been called the LeBox, but no, they are going in a new direction with this one, which will reportedly be sold under the name “eBox.” Very imaginative.

I’m not aware that the major game studios will be making eBox versions of popular titles, or even porting, so unless the eBox will be sold as a paperweight, I must assume that it is going to be compatible with Xbox titles. So explain to me why this thing won’t be shut down immediately by Microsoft’s IP lawyers?

In our next offering, fake monks. Those of you who are now aware of my views on religion are probably wondering why I care about shanzhai priests. Fake, real, no difference to me. True, but these guys in Inner Mongolia were not only passing themselves off as monks, but were peddling “medical products” as well. That’s even worse than proselytizing!

More than 178 fake monks were arrested in Guyang County, Baotou city of north China’s Inner Mongolia autonomous region on Aug 7, the North News reported on Wednesday.

The detained are all farmers from Henan province pretending to be monks to make money by selling medicines, curing illnesses and some by blackmailing or extorting.

Local police said the group was manipulated by an organized crime gang, which they will investigate further.

Shit, that’s a lot of fake monks! That’s almost enough for 18 minyans. Do monks have quorum rules? Anyway, not only were these farmers pretending to be monk pharmacists, but they were fronting for some local mafiosi. Dios mio!

Last, but certainly not least, another ‘image project’ (????): structures or complexes with no practical use other than to raise a town’s profile. Unlike bold recreations of the Shanghai Expo’s China Pavilion, the Great Wall, or London’s Big Ben, this newest entrant into the ‘image project’ Hall of Shame is a real doozy, winning scads of points for creativity, not to mention style:

As home to the painter Salvador Dalí and inspiration for some of his greatest and strangest artistic endeavours, the Costa Brava fishing port of Cadaqués is used to the surreal.

A Chinese developer has decided to build a replica of the town half-way across the globe in Xiamen Bay, where mainland China looks out towards Taiwan.

More than 100 acres of land will be used to build a near replica with a capacity to house some 15,000 Chinese holidaymakers who want to enjoy the Costa Brava experience without having to travel 6,500 miles.

Well, sure, I think we can all understand that. The Mediterranean is a frothing pit of chemical filth, so no one wants to go on holiday there anymore. Chinese waters are so much cleaner. Besides, all the tourists want is a chance to take a photo standing next to a giant, drippy clock.

But seriously, these folks in Xiamen must be hardcore Dali fans (probably Deadheads, too). Not to excuse this utterly wasteful image project, but these developers might just be riding out a multi-decade long acid trip. To their distorted world view, this thing probably looks like a sound investment.