Top 10 shanzhai phenomena in 2009
By Hou Qi (chinadaily.com.cn)
Updated: 2010-01-11 11:49
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Editor's note: The word “shanzhai” originally means "mountain village," but the term was given a new life in China. "Shanzhai" has taken on a broader meaning, denoting fake, unprofessional or homemade, a slang term for anything that steals ideas or styles from already well-known stuff. There are shanzhai products that clearly infringes on intellectual property rights, but other shanzhai things could be the result of parody or following the same trend. Here, in a chinadaily.com.cn special, we look back at the top 10 shanzhai phenomena in 2009.
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1. Let's Go Watch Meteor Shower -- Hunan TV's shanzhai version of "Meteor Garden"
The airing of “Let’s Go Watch Meteor Shower” got a lot of attention and caused much debate. Although its executive producer stressed it's a very different show from “Meteor Garden” in terms of plots, characters and social backgrounds, its basic settings and creations are almost the same as the hit TV drama that was popular across Asia earlier this decade. It would be too apparent and absurd to completely copy the former version, but sharing the basics make it worth including as a shanzhai-spirit product.