Apple Insider reports that customers started arriving at 5 p.m. Thursday — and many chose to wait overnight. The staff at the Beijing Apple Store had the launch-day process down pat, thanks no doubt to the experience of previous launches of devices like the iPhone 4 and the white iPhone.
There were several perks that Apple Stores in the U.S. don’t offer. Those who chose to wait overnight could stay in a special waiting room. And everyone in line wears wristbands, so customers could leave for up to an hour and return to the same place in the queue.
Looking through M.I.C. Gadget’s coverage of the Beijing iPad 2 launch, we couldn’t help but feel a warm sense of kinship with line dwellers on the other side of the world. (We heartily recommend M.I.C. Gadget’s coverage, especially the hilarious photo captions.)
As in the U.S., many of the people in front of the line were either scalpers looking to sell items at a profit to other line dwellers or people paid to wait in line for others.
M.I.C. Gadget took an informal survey and found the white iPad 2 variant to be more popular than the black. Apple Insider came to the same conclusion.
Chinese customers can also order an iPad 2 from the Apple Store online, though the wait is now at least a week
