Osama, Obama souvenirs a hit in Shanghai

Aiming to cash in on a fascination for morbid memorabilia, Shanghai's Yu Gardens, the city's home of kitschy souvenirs, is leading the way among stores hoping to exploit the news of Osama bin Laden's death.

Although there hasn’t been a rash of sales of T-shirts emblazoned with slogans like “Bin Laden killed: End of Terror," figurines and images of both bin Laden and U.S. President Barack Obama are selling for just a few kuai a pop in Shanghai.

Vendors told China Daily the memorabilia is popular, although probably not quite as hot as the once much sought-after ObaMao shirts, which flew off shelves when the U.S. president visited China.

The Chinese government’s response to the U.S. action has been muted, although Chinese netizens have strong opinions both for and against the show of force.

While some, like one from Zhengzhou, Henan Province, posted comments along the lines of “Great America, you are the embodiment of freedom and justice,” others took a different tone.

“Impossible! I don’t believe it, please post a photo for us to inspect,” posted netizen Guanghaizhan on Netease, a Chinese BBS forum which created a breakout site dedicated to news and photos of the U.S. action.