Addictive, absurdly cheap and controversial: the rise of China's Temu app

A chicken-shaped lamp. A toilet paper holder in the shape of a smiling velociraptor. An apron that catches beard hair during shaving. The list of unusual products goes on. Among the more everyday items are cleaning products, smartwatches, novelty T-shirts, knock-off sneakers and barbecue tools, but the common thread across all of them is that everything is incredibly, mindbogglingly cheap. This is Temu, the latest Chinese shopping app to take the internet by storm and raise questions about provenance, competition and value. Temu launched in the US in 2022 before expanding to Canada earlier this year, then to several European…