The Chinese government requires that all tour guides take tourists to government-owned factories while on their tours. On our Beijing tour, we were taken to a cloisonne factory, a jade factory, a silk factory, and a pearl factory. Later, in Guilin, we were also taken to a silver factory. At each factory, a guide took us around and explained how X product was made. At the end of each factory tour, the guide let us loose in a huge store filled with X product. This was great fun for me, but I can see how other people might be unhappy about it. The advantage to buying products at these stores is that you can be sure that they are genuine, but the disadvantage is that you cannot bargain for a better price like you can on the street.
