Eric's Beijing Diary

Can you spot the real youth hostel? One of these youth hostels is a legitimate member of "Hostelling International." One of them is not, although they both carry the trademark sign. From the outside, it would be tough to tell which one is legitimate, and which one is the copy. The real one is listed on the Hostelling International web site for China. The fake one is not. But, get this, the fake one is on the official city map of Suzhou. The legitimate one is not! Money talks in Suzhou, I guess. There is very little policing of this kind of thing, so copies of "Hostelling International" youth hostels are springing up all over China. I stayed in one last summer in Urumqi (Xinjiang). I reported this to the China Youth Hostel association, and they did (predictably) nothing. So does it matter? Well, youth hostels, you know are not supposed to be big money making enterprises, so I guess there may not be a whole lot of motivation for the real youth hostel association to sue the fake ones. The problem is that the fake ones do not have to follow the cleanliness and safety standards of the real ones. This presents a false picture to travelers, and also pushes the price up. Fake youth hostels are in it for the money, pure and simple. They have absolutely no qualms about taking advantage of young people who are traveling on limited resources.

The Wall Street Journal did an interesting piece recently about copycat branding in China. It really is rampant. Right now I am sitting in the "Sculpting in Time" coffee bar in Wudaokou. It is just a few minutes from the North Gate of Beihang University, where I live. But over near the East Gate, is a place called "Sculpting for Time." Shameless copy by some mindless, uneducated people who are obviously not aware that the term "Sculpting in Time" is taken from the name of Russian filmmaker Tarkovsky's book about his work. Sculpting in Time was started about eight years ago by a couple film students from Peking University. So what does "Sculpting for Time" mean? Nobody knows. It doesn't matter. That isn't the point. The point is to trick people into thinking they are going to a place similar to the establishment they are used to.

So what will motivate organizations like the Youth Hostel Association to protect their reputation? It is hard to say. It's possible that they are into some copying of their own, and wish to avoid scrutiny. Or that they cannot afford the legal costs. Meanwhile, the "Hostelling International" sign doesn't mean much in China these days. Pretty soon there will be more fake youth hostels than real ones.