The Chinese are excellent at making copies of things.  In fact, we have a nicely-done hand-painted copy of Sunflowers by Van Gogh in our dining room.  Copied CD's of music and software are deeply woven into the fabric of the society.  When I buy Marlboro cigarettes, they ask me if I want the real ones; I ask them if the real ones are really real; and they smile as if we are sharing a deep knowledge.  When it comes to electronics, invariably, I am asked a similar question; and there are "Rolex" watches for sale on every corner.  In our dealings in the teapot market, we also see and have heard of many fakes of teapots by famous artists, past and present, which has apparently been a big business since the mid-1980's.  A way that the locals get around the one child law, I have heard, is to use fake i.d.

However, the recent discovery of fake eggs takes the cake as far as I am concerned.  They actually make an fake egg shell and fill it with fake white and fake yolk.  I was in awe, while Ayu simply said that she used to know a place down the street from here that "made eggs" when she was growing up.