On August 6 in Shenyang, shops shuttered. Merchants vanished. On their shops, there were signs like "temporarily closed". Online, people said parts of the city were nearly ghost towns.
Many of the shops carried fake goods of one kind or another, and the rumor was that Chinese authorities were going to crackdown on these gray market fake sellers. Retailers responded by getting the heck out of Dodge, leaving the shopping area in tumbleweeds.
According to China Hush, the following day, the Shenyang city government issued a notice that, after an emergency meeting by the local government, the crackdown ceased "in hope of all vendors to resume normal business." That's right, normal business. Many retailers, however, didn't immediately return.
Check out Kotaku's tour of China's illegal (and totally blatant) gray market for video games.
沈阳部分商铺因工商局"打假"传言歇业(组图) [iFeng via China Hush]
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