only if it was a socialist t-shirt... :( ....but amazing none the less

Great work! Love your humor!

Great story, thanks for sharing. It's good to see that capitalism is alive and well in China. What a great shirts!

Thank you for the commentary, it's nice to see how a communist
country sees our president.

Wow, great story. I wonder what happened to that lucky shopkeeper in China. China has a great track record of not physically mistreating their people. 'Tank Man' sure has become famous since 1989. Where's he at now? Had you given any thought to that shopkeeper's well being after you scored the cool shirt and story? Nah, what's he matter any way?

Great piece. I would love one of those haha

LOL, I want one of those!

I'm always torn by stories like this.

One the one hand it's hilarious to hear, and your account is beautifully written. And news from inside China is always important to researchers, especially unofficial views from journalists.

On the other hand, it's hard to see local cops as really "bad" guys here (though they can of course be corrupt and violent). Most likely the local PSB just got a notice that they wanted all such shirts off the street. And the PSB sent it down the line.

In China, there's collective responsibility for political mistakes. So if there's an problem at the local district level, you can bet everyone up the PSB will hear about it. And for them really, they weren't the ones who decided on censorship, it's just their job on the line if they don't carry out the policy of the leadership.

Just saying that while I love your story and would like to hear more, please don't put people's jobs on the line. Harmonious society and all that jazz. :P

That's so messed up, but it doesn't surprise me in the least.

Umm...dude chill. The CNN crew was haggling with mall security. You seriously think they'll jail a shop keeper because a CNN crew haggled with mall security guards??

i am enjoying the irony that when i first tried to read this story (from here in china) i could not because it was blocked. had to use a proxy. that says a lot.

I'd like to begin by saying good story, well written! I do have to echo a previous stated concern by "Steven" for that shopkeeper's safety. While the chinese gvt might put restraints on their people's use of the internet, they don't put it on themselves so im sure they have access to this story, hope they dont go looking for that guy...

Great piece. Thanks for the insight. Kudos to you for keeping the shirt.

Why do I sense Dick Cheney has commissioned these t-shirts?

I would wear one of those, for sure! Somebody has a great sense of humor. I wonder if Obama himself got one. He should. It's way too funny for him not to have one.

Great story, thanks for sharing. It's good to see that capitalism is alive and well in China. Too bad Oba-Mao is killing it here.

there is no diffirence between communism and socialism.

That's our president right there! Oba-Mao

Hey .. Where can I order one of these "true to life" Tee Shirts ..anybody know?

Oh im sorry ricky. Was that a little bit of elitism I hear?

These shirts are available everywhere in America. Why did you feel it necessary to travel all the way to Beijing and Shanghai in search of this shirt? Or is that the story....that you can buy this shirt outside of America in Shanghai. The shirts are selling like wildfire here in the states that's for sure.

I love this! This is hilarious. This IS how other countries see our president and how THIS country is beginning to feel about this administration as welll!!!

The scary part is that the US is moving closer to communism via the socialist path.

Emily, Another piece of good work! Thanks!

At least the Chinese see Obama for what he is!

Wow, CNN, so caught up in your own giggly sense of self-importance that you don't even realize how bad this will make Obama look in the states.

So I guess all those people claiming Obama is a socialist were right, but just didn't go far enough. Cause in your own excitement over what you think is a novelty joke, you just showed every American that even the Chinese think Obama is a communist.

You do know the actual history of communism, don't you?

Oh, I want one of those shirts to wear with my Che shirts. Down with capitalism! ROFL

Funny how the liberal media embraces these shirts made by the communist Chinese. If an American had made these shirts, he'd have had his name dragged through the mud, been labeled a "racist" and a "hater" and had his entire life and family publicly maligned.

...but when a Communist recognizes what a socialist 0bama is, it's all in good fun, right?

Where can I buy that shirt???????

Come to China... those shirts are everywhere! And they really do love Obama.

Steven, why so bent out of shape? All they did was buy a t-shirt, then when confronted by police for possessing it, they refused to turn it over.

what a nice shirt i like it..where i can order one,,,

Can we start a small company producing and selling this item in the US

I wonder when someone will start making the T-shirts here in the good old USA?

Great T-shirt!

I am a chinese living in Canada. I know what the shirt exactly mean. Mao is the most respectable leaders in China, though he made some mistakes. And chinese very like President Obama. So in mind, it's the way Chinese pay respect to Obama. you may not understand, Chinese won't put any of Chinese leaders together with Mao, because they should not have such honor. And why the government wants to ban the shirt, because as I understand, they worried about that it maybe offend Americans because Americans don't like Communists, though communism are not as bad as you think.

Er, why is this a big deal? I could get a t-shirt made tomorrow with Emily Chang dressed up like Fidel Castro. So what? The thing this piece seems to celebrate is the fact that it got a lot of attention. It created 'buzz.' Well, thanks for dropping all pretense about what reporting is about any more.

What's the context here? Is it a big deal that some merchant put Obama on a t-shirt like this? It takes a couple of dollars to print anything on a t-shirt. Is there some cultural significance to this? It doesn't seem like it was widespread or significant until American media put the spotlight on it. Is it a compliment there? A joke? Is it out of the ordinary in any way for Chinese government goons to bully people? I know why you like splashing it. You made a 'buzz.' And the wingnuts get to chuckle because they imagine this verifies the FOX/GOP 'socialist' garbage. Nothing is learned, nothing changes.

You got a t-shirt. You got a paycheck. The national conversation got even dumber. Way to go.

It was extremely risky holding onto the shirt after such a huge fuss over it from the Chinese authorities. A Tee-Shirt is not worth being thrown into a communist prison, which they could have done if they had wanted to. In the future, please use common sense when traveling abroad.

Lucky for you folks that our President was in the area at the time!

WOW! Already on sale at Ebay!

Sad how this is almost written seriously. It's like you are shocked to see that you were detained and scolded in a controlled society which lacks some rights that we cherish.

What did you expect?

Think what money you could have made had you bought them all. LOL

I think they are just trying to protect Obama's image, c'mon!

Capitalism will find a way, even where it is illegal. The natural powers of the free market cannot be constrained– that is why there are black markets all over the globe.

You can get them in JaktukJak weekend ,marlet in Bangkok by this weekend..with no hasle!

For those here that think that one person selling a shirt shows how the entire country thinks about our president, you are foolishly niave. Just like in the US, there are many different opinions on Obama. Wrapping them all up into one unified belief is ignorant.

another ammunition for the Obama haters.

Can you imagine if that was a Bush-Mao T-shirt , what would be the media coverage??????

Thank you for reporting this, I am surprised it hit the "mainstream"
It's all I want for Christmas...

Hmm. Could it be that communist China is becoming more of a democracy? Maybe America is becoming more of a communist nation? Hmm.

i love it. almost as good as the Barack Obama Kool-Aid t-shirt!

They are a fasinating people so similar yet worlds apart in the subtle cultural thoughts and ideals , the shirt is interesting for me they some how identify many similiar ideals and perhaps recognise the need for recognition of these 2 great nations need for the greater role they play in a world that is forever getting smaller and need to talk when rubbing shoulders with each other a little light humour can go a long way , but after all this said maybe its just a fun t shirt someone just wanted wear.