Watch what you eat and buy in China. The government’s idea of consumer protection is giving “Certificates of Government Approval” to those rich enough to pay for them. I bet the inspectors never even peek under the hood of what they approve!

You see, I recently visited Guangdong and bought a can of mushrooms. After frying it, I consumed the sickly looking things only to experience severe stomach upsets right after. My guide said (seriously) that manufacturers here tend to use formalin in their food stuffs. Formalin??? Isn’t that to preserve the dead?

The shopping district looked next to Shi’a beckoned to me after the doc pumped me full of medicine so I took a stroll and bought some shirts and jeans. Hmmm… never knew that Prada was spelt “Prrada” and Louis Vuitton sold as “Luis Veeton” here. Quality matched the poor spelling: the darn things started shrinking after a good wash.

Sigh. Any horror stories from fellows visiting this consumer unfriendly land?