Speaking of China

As I was looking for some late morning breakfast in the kitchen, I heard someone burst through the front door of my inlaws’ home here in the countryside. There was this handsome young man with a briefcase and — looking back on the moment — a somewhat unctuous smile. I’ve met everyone in John’s family, and here in the countryside, it’s nothing strange for someone to wander over your home unannounced. But there was something a little strange about this man.

“????” Who are you looking for? I asked him.

Before he could even open his cherry-colored lips to respond, my mother-in-law burst in and shepherded the man out the door.

When I inquired about who he was, she told me he was the ??? — nutritional supplements — door-to-door salesman, and I shuddered. I shuddered because I’d heard from my mother-in-law of how my father-in-law was being cheated by such a salesman. But I let it go for the moment.

Fortunately, it came up during lunch, after John and I had exhausted all of the details of our trip. It was mother-in-law who spoke of it, in her more agitated voice, and I knew something was wrong, even as I tried to make out what she was saying through the murky local language (NOTE: while people out here can speak Mandarin, the local language sounds rather different and, for the uninitiated, it can be nearly unintelligible.)

Now my mother-in-law is a smart lady, even though she is still illiterate and only went to school for several years. She knew long ago the salesman was peddling snake oil, and once again took this opportunity to berate my father-in-law. But the thing is, he would never listen to her. They actually argue quite a bit, and always have, according to John.

But when father-in-law tried defending it in front of John and I, we wouldn’t buy it, and were genuinely concerned.

He showed us this calendar hanging on the wall. The calendar had two months on each page and a large color photo of an olympic event, highlighting an Olympic athlete and some accompanying text. What I didn’t realize was, this was a freebie from the company and, of course, it was promoting the nutritional products the company sold. The company is named Zhen’ao (??), and they sell Zhen’ao nucleic acid (????). Just the name alone made me concerned, because never in my life had I heard of anyone taking supplements filled with DNA and RNA.

“See,” said my father-in-law. “These Olympic athletes take Zhen’ao nucleic acid.

“Look here, Zhen’ao is supported by a government bureau.

“Zhen’ao is from a Nobel-prize-winning scientist.

“Zhen’ao nucleic acid has even been featured on TV programs.

Worst of all, he pointed to his head and said “See? Zhen’ao nucleic acid has made my hair turn from grey to black.”

But John and I were having none of it. We told him, they can say anything. As for the government bureau and TV, they can pay for that. And who says the Olympians are taking this stuff anyway?

We figured it was time to get to the truth of the matter, so we did a search on google, and it was worse than we ever expected.

Zhen’ao nucleic acid is a scam, and it hurts, not helps, your body. In 1981, the US legal system declared that nucleic acids were a disingenuous means of cheating consumers out of their money. In 2000, the WHO reported that people do not need nucleic acids as a health supplement. The Nobel Prize winning scientist — and others — used in Zhen’ao’s marketing all declared their names were falsely used by the company. As for China, in 2007 Zhen’ao was already on their list of dishonest nutritional supplements companies, and Zhen’ao’s direct-sales permit was revoked the same year.

John and I immediately grabbed his dad, and had him read the information we found online. Then we had a long discussion, where we explained to him never to buy anything sold door-to-door, or anything where the salesman says it’s “not available in stores” (which Zhen’ao told him — and I’m not surprised, given that their products are fake and their sales permit was long cancelled).

Unfortunately, he still has an entire box filled with Zhen’ao nucleic acid — 5,000 RMB ($735) worth. We want to see if we can return it, but I don’t have a lot of hope.

Why does such a thing happen? It’s simple — out in the countryside, people don’t have a lot of information available to them. Most do not use the internet, or know how to. There are no libraries. People don’t read the daily newspaper out here, either, because there isn’t door-to-door delivery. Cable TV at least provides some info, but it’s not enough.

Moreover, these scammers are targeting a vulnerable population: the retired elderly in China, with pensions and free time. Even in the US, the elderly get regularly scammed in cities. Just imagine how much easier it must be with a population of people so isolated from information.

Since we’re hoping to get some money back from the company, we must not act alarmed when that salesman from Zhen’ao returns. At least, we must try. And if we fail, then we must continue with our next step: warning all of my father-in-law’s friends, who also have been taking Zhen’ao nucleic acids, on his recommendation.

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Tags: 珍奥核酸, zhen'ao nucleic acid