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Top 10 shanzhai phenomena in 2009

By Hou Qi (chinadaily.com.cn)
Updated: 2010-01-11 11:49

4. Gate Crasher – White House’s uninvited guests

This photo released by the White House November 27, 2009, shows President Barack Obama greeting Michaele and Tareq Salahi, right, at a State Dinner hosted by Obama for Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh at the White House in Washington. [Agencies]  

A northern Virginia couple, Tareq and Michaele Salahi, not on the official guest list, crashed the White House party that President Obama held in honor of visiting Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on November 24. They were never seated at a table in the South Lawn tent where the dinner was held. The uninvited guests were in the same room as the Obamas and Prime Minister Singh. They even received greetings from President Obama. We label them “shanzhai guests” not just because they were uninvited, but because they pretended to be guests.