By Chris Chang, posted Aug 16, 2011 at 1:41 PM, 2,177 views,

How The Kunming Officials Crack Down Fake Apple Store

22 fake Apple stores were recently discovered in the Chinese city of Kunming, and Apple later filled a complaint to order all 22 of these shops to make their Apple branding vanish. Well, here we have some pictures showing the Kunming authorities carrying out an investigation inside the fake Apple stores. And we see an “Apple” employee giving a middle finger to a local journalist. See the interesting pics after the break.

Three Kunming officials are seen inside one of the fake Apple stores in the city. Are they telling the “Apple” employee to cease using the Apple trademarks? Here’s what TechWorld reported:

“The city ordered all unauthorized Apple vendors to cease using the Apple trademarks by August 10, this past Wednesday. This included any decorative logos found on door entrances and clothes. All 22 stores complied with the demand.”

As far as we know, the Kunming authorities launched the investigation after Apple’s Shanghai office sent a complaint about the fake stores on August 2, according to a posting made on the city government’s website. Anyway, we are now seeing some of these stores getting rebranded as “Smart Store”.

Interestingly, we came across this pic showing an “Apple” employee having a “fight” with a guy who was trying to take photos of the store.

And one of them gave a middle finger to a local photo journalist. Seems like this employee feels proud to work in a fake Apple store…

Source: TechWorld

p.s. We wonder if the Zhongshan Apple store knockoff could survive…