Fake in China

Here's an interesting article about the evolving shanzhai (fake) culture of China.  It mentions fake name-brand items, fake universities, a fake bank, and fake careers.  One interesting quote:

Zinch China, the Chinese arm of U.S.-based educational networking site Zinch.com, estimates that 90 percent of recommendation letters to U.S. schools are fake, that 70 percent of the essays are written by someone else and that half the transcripts are fabricated. Zinch drew the numbers from interviews with Chinese students, parents and agents.

Based on what I've heard from students wanting to study abroad, this sounds about right.  One student said that most online forums and discussion groups for Chinese students applying to U.S. schools talk about almost nothing but how to cheat the system in order to get in.  The "agents" mentioned above are people or companies that guide students through the U.S. admissions process (for a price), often taking care of many of the fabrications themselves.