lo wu shopping mall. they come up to you saying "dvd, dvd".

in fact i'm watching one at the moment.

Wow. I'm (almost!) Speechless.

I really need to introduce you to some of my many friends in Shanghai, who come from rural areas, including Yunan, and live in large labrythian housing complexes with shared toilets - outside in the streets - and lightbulbs hanging on extension cables from the ceilings of their rooms. The stench when they empty their "potties" at night, into the urinals in the morning, is very sobering.

One friend in particular, who works in a McDonalds, watches TV... because his neighbour allows him to watch through the window across the way.

Maybe he's spent all his money buying DVD players for his family back in Changsha

My fella (I have a place close to Lane Crawford) still comes on his bike with a black briefcase tied to the back. Even though I download these days, I get a few TV series gems I'm surprised he has (Thin Blue Line a couple of weeks ago^) just to help the guy out.

That's what I was saying. At Lo Wu, there are touts that come up to you. I'm used to buying them in the open at everything from street stands to upscale DVD stores.

That's where I got many of mine. We had a shop we went to every week in Hui Zhou that had a mix of Chinese and English. They were all DVD quality with the regular packaging. I stopped buying the camcorder versions once the novelty wore off.

You realize how much we are ripped off in the US when they can sell a DVD in China, including paying all the middlemen, for $5 (at a regular store) and the same DVD in the US costs $20.

btw the ones i bought from lo wu were from a shop and it wasn't one of those shuttered shops where someone has to take you.

don't ask me where it was, was just walking around and stumbled across it.

As opposed to the "meet me in the stairwell" software sales in HK.
The ones in Lo Wu will close their rollup doors, and then grab the DVD's from above the ceiling tiles. I found the experience very humorous.

There are plenty of those stores around in the greater SXZ area. I have one that carriers the "good quality" DVDs and I usually preview them on their DVD setup before purchase. If I do get a "bad" one. They let me return it for an exchange.