A pair of boys get some help to play soccer at Chaoyang Park on Saturday. zou hong / China Daily

Zakumi, the mascot for the 2010 World Cup, is striking a chord with shoppers in the capital but buyers are being warned to defend against imitators as substitutes come into play online.
At one NICI outlet - the authorized seller of Zakumi products in North China - a sales assistant said they can sell as many as 10,000 Zakumi products a day and they are selling better than other toys in the shop.

But, in addition to the official channels, about 78 sellers located in Beijing are hawking Zakumi products online via the Taobao website, the biggest online retail trading platform in China. All of the online sellers claim their goods are certified products but many are not.

One online seller said he had sold 212 Zakumis at 32 yuan each during the past month.

Another online seller claimed her products did not have laser anti-fake labels because they were from the same manufacturer but made to be sold directly online. She claimed they were a "simplified" version.