China copies the Shroppie

We've just returned from China where we found, to our great surprise, that China has copied the Shroppie – as well as CDs, DVDs, watches etc.

As many folks know, the bar in the Shroppie Fly is unique in the UK, and is built from the remains of an old fly-boat that traded on the canal many years ago.

But the idea is unique no more! Now the Chinese, who are renowned for their ability to copy anything, have pinched the idea from us. Maybe a hire-boat crewed by Chinese has passed through Audlem in the last 3 years?

The main artery through Yangshuo in southern China is the River Li. Historically, the local people have used bamboo rafts (and more recently copies made from what look like drainage pipes!) as a primary source of transport in the area, as you can see from the top photo.

Now look at the next photo, of a bar in a hotel by the river. There you'll see a bamboo raft as part of the bar. Is nothing sacred? They've stolen the idea from The Fly!

We were so taken aback by this blatant copy 7000 miles from Audlem, that we were forced to recover over a pint (or two) of fizzy, weak, Chinese beer. Unfortunately, they haven't worked out how to make a copy of a pint of decent English beer yet!

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