People’s Republic of Mac; The East is Mac
Posted by David Feng 
Jul 21, 2006 at 3:18am
Some of you folks in your 70s and 80s may remember the city of Shanghai as your place—way back in the 1920s and 1930s. Old-style Republican buildings survive in the Bund, but the Chinese are hard at work at buildings that dwarf not only the Republican counterparts, but their Beijing counterparts as well.
The East is Mac. I’ve yet to see a place on the mainland where the Mac is more felt than in Shanghai. Apple ads take their place in electronic billboards (and by trhat I mean really recent ads as well), while there are about a dozen buildings nearby Huangpi West Road. Meanwhile, we see Apple ads and Apple authorized outlets all over the place at Xujiahui—a tech-hub of sorts. The ubiquity of Apple ads make me feel (from what I’ve seen on Flickr groups) that Shanghai is more Taipei than anything.
Allow me, therefore, to take you on a stroll—in Mac Shanghai. (Note: Two days just wasn’t enough for me—thank heavens I’ll be back in Shanghai in several weeks for another day-long visit, where I’ll explore the rest of the city.)
Hub Xujiahui
Take Shanghai subway line 1 all the way to Xujiahui. That’s it—you’ve reached one of those big Mac hubs in Shanghai. In both buildings that form Taipingyang Shopping Mall, you see an Apple outlet—smack on the first floor. The gang’s all here: Macs, iPod and so on and so forth.
However, local sources (including one from a friend) say that there is apparently an unwritten rule that no Apple-authorized outlet be allowed to showcase Boot Camp, of all things. Apparently, Apple Shanghai may not like the idea of showing MS imperialist systems on liberated Apple hardware. As far as I know, however, the capital isn’t hit by this odd regulation.
Meanwhile, just outside the Taipingyang complex, there are electronic billboards telling Shanghai people to be—get this—“lovable, cute Shanghai citizens” and at the same time showing off the latest Apple ad (an iPod ad) with lyrics in simplified Chinese subtitles. Way up there—on the roof—is an Apple ad. The same abstract iPod ad that—hopefully—more and more locals will get, with a little help from something else that we all know as an information campaign.
Hub Huangpi West Road
Huangpi West Road is where you leave the Shanghai subway (line 1) if you want to see more. While this hub is not really as dense as the Xujiahui one, it still is quite significant. This is where you want to head to have a gander at this miracle: 10 Apple iPod ads!
In the vicinity is a multi-storey complex which sells Macs on the first floor. When I visited in June 2006, they were just about sold out on the 17-inch MacBook Pro, but promised to be back with more. In the same complex, though, are about a zillion other iPod stores.
The staff range from “relatively” helpful to downright informative—something that our compatriots in the capital might want to take note of. They could clue me in on what an iPod was, although they sometimes do stock outdated gear: if I remember this correctly, I caught sight of an iPod photo still for sale!
Don’t fake it
However, both hubs are contaminated by fakes. Nobody really wants to sell anyone fakes (except for the crafty lowlife that cares nothing but greenbacks and yuan), but they’re still there.
I’ve seen fake iPod nanos for sale, and plenty of iPod accessories look either downright suspicious or are just outright fake. Not only are Hollywood directors being ripped off by pirates in the PRC, but even innocent iPod accessory people are losing out.
Fakes ####. It’s pretty much stealing or making counterfeit money. A lot of brainpower (or Hirnfleisch as I prefer—the German term) goes into making anything iPod-related, be it the iPod itself or accessories. To most people, counterfeiting Mao-adorned banknotes is a sin; why, then, should counterfeiting iPod gear not be considered a sin?
By the way
I’ve heard about the story about the iPod and its histoire de l’horreur in China—people working under downright inhumane conditions to churn out our favourite MP3/MP4 player. To this I bluntly say: Give it the quits.
Apple Computer is not your average company associated with employing brute force and enslaving thousands to produce iPods or anything. Apple should not allow any company to do this—Foxconn or otherwise.
Macs and iPods are supposed to liberate people and give people the Apple way of life. The company that created the computer that liberated us from the dreaded command line should not un-liberate thousands to create the iPod, nor allow anyone to get away with this.
It sucks that people have to give up this much and be under this much pressure in the People’s Republic of Macs to produce iPods for the rest of us.
bonksu! Says:
what make you of the ridiculous pricing in the mainland?? They are practically made next door! I ended up going to HK to buy my macbook.. and I live right near xujiahui. So stupid.
I like how in shanghai apple shops they explain that the high prices don’t matter because ALL the software is free… Anything I might want. Free. Yess
Posted on July 22, 2006
badr Says:
I have the same gripes with apple china as bonksu. The machines are considerably overpriced here considering they are made locally and the competition’s pricing structure.
I’m glad however to see that Shanghai is getting more mac outlets. Beijing is still lagging far behind! There are ipod ads all over the place but that is not translating into a more concrete mac presence. The retail center at the oriental plaza closed shop, the one in bainaihui has limited stock of older models.....
It’s also strange that you cannot buy directly from apple as a customer. I called them up a few times when working at a local university to see if I would qualify for an educational discount and they just said: “sorry, can’t help you.. talk to our dealers”.
Posted on July 24, 2006
Gary Says:
Yeah mac pricing in the PRC is just as much as in Europe and the china applecare is only valid in china as well.
Haven’t really met a lot of mac users in Beijing and never made it to the beimac meetings :(.
Seem to be more ipod users then mac users IMO
Posted on July 31, 2006
puta_boy2000 Says:
hey im new in shanghai and i was wondering if there is any shanghai mac users group i could join!!! thank you!
Posted on September 05, 2006
Eric Says:
I’ve been in a few Apple shops here, and I haven’t figured out the software thing. Is there a place to buy (or otherwise get) apple software here? I want to purchase a copy of Aperture, but I dunno where to get it.
Posted on September 09, 2006
Diego Says:
Hi! My name is Diego, I’m living in Shanghai, and I would like to know, where I can buy an USED Ipod…
Thank you very much for any reply.
Posted on November 23, 2006
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Contributor
David Feng
David Feng is the president of the Beijing Macintosh User Group (BeiMac), the director-general of the Asia-Pacific Macintosh Union (MacAsia.org) and a Macsimum News columnist.
Weili Says:
Even when I was last in Shanghai over two years ago, the Mac presence could’ve easily been felt. There were Apple ads anywhere from the subway stations to even the walls of the elevators of the high-rise residential building that I stayed at.
Regarding the poor working environment in the iPod factories, we have to keep in mind that it all comes down to cheap and greedy consumers. I’m not saying it’s right or justifiable to allow such poor working environments to exist, but a good part of the reason for their existence is because companies must remain competitive as consumers want more and more for less and less. So before pointing fingers at others, as a consumer, stop and reflect for a minute. Of course, the manufacturer is also to be blamed as to stay competitive, they should be coming up with ways to produce products at lower cost and faster rate WITHOUT sacrificing working conditions.
Posted on July 21, 2006