Shanzhai Wenhua

Chinese phrase denoting a rebellious, grass roots, knockoff culture. Shanzhai literally means “mountain fortress,” but is used to refer to counterfeit products; Wenhua means culture.

The Daily Yomiuri explained how a term that originally referred to the mountain fortresses of outlawsis now used describe the abundance of Chinese copycat goods:

[Shanzhai] associates fake products with the actions of old-time bandits who thumbed their noses at various Chinese dynasties, an increasing number of Chinese people are viewing such products as an anti-establishment symbol.

Sometimes rebellious, sometimes ironically reverential, Shanzai Wenhauencapsulates the trend of imitation and parody which has captured the Chinese imagination, as The Wall Street Journal reported:

Recently, the definition of Shanzhai has expanded. On China’s Internet, blogs, bulletin boards and news sites carry photos of automobiles jerry-rigged to run on railroad tracks (“Shanzhai trains”), fluffy dogs trimmed and dyed to look like the national mascot (“Shanzhai pandas”) and models of the Beijing Olympic Games’ National Stadium made out of sticks (“Shanzhai Bird’s Nest”).

A property developer in Nanjing, hoping to lure business and buzz, set up storefront facades with logos such as “Haagon-Bozs,” “Pizza Huh,” “Bucksstar Coffee,” “KFG” and “McDnoald’s.” Images of what became known as “Shanzhai Street” spread rapidly online.

Once a term used to suggest something cheap or inferior, Shanzhainow suggests to many a certain Chinese cleverness and ingenuity.Shanzhai culture “is from the grass roots and for the grass roots,” says Han Haoyue, a media critic in Beijing, who sees it as a means of self-expression. “It gives people another choice and the possibility of resisting dominant cultural values.”