Here in Wuchang near my home there’s a nearly abandoned electronics warehouse where the remaining tenants sell all sorts of useful products (wires, wire cutters, motherboards, lock pick kits…) If you go to the third floor of this facility and knock on an empty display wall, an old woman will push a shelf out of the way revealing a makeshift hallway filled with hundreds of (very high quality) pirated DVDs. 

The zealousness of salespeople (at least those whose products would be the first to go in the event of a downturn) is as good proxy for general commercial health of the city that you’ll probably find, since official reports are almost entirely bunk. Here’s a conversation I had with sketchy-DVD lady a few weeks ago:

Nice lady: Here, have a look at these films! They are all great… So are you married? Do you have a girlfriend?

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Me: No.

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Nice lady: Impossible! *pause* You might like this movie. It’s really good – it even has a good story! Most movies like this don’t have stories.

She promptly hands me Pirates, a 2005 adventure-p0rn about pirates. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy a properly narrated romp through the 18th century as much as the next guy. Properly determining that I was in the target demographic (lonely young men) was also a stroke of marketing genius.

But something didn’t feel quite right, aside from the obvious awkward dynamic of the interaction. The speed and intensity at which she was recommending titles was unusual, almost maddening. I’ve begun noticing this everywhere – more promotions, coupons lining sidewalks outside of malls, more underemployed migrants playing Chess, and more beggars of all ages.

It’s entirely possible this is seasonal. I’m inclined to think not, unfortunately.