Kyodo News On the surface, several farming villages near the port of Xiamen in Fujian Province appear as calm as any other Chinese village, with no outsiders believing in the existence of clandestine bases.
"In fact, there are villagewide underground plants to manufacture counterfeit cigarettes," a tobacco broker said at his home in Shanghai.
By using highly efficient machines obtained illegally from other Chinese plants or through smuggling from overseas, the underground plants are doing everything to produce counterfeit cigarettes -- from package printing to paper rolling, packing and transportation, he said.