(File/Thepaper.cn)

As Harry Potter fans around the world celebrate what many see as the eighth installment of the classic series, multitudes of Chinese readers have faced a big decision: wait for the book's scheduled China release on Oct. 29 or buy a pirated version on Taobao.

Indeed, "Harry Potter and the Cursed Child" is already available on e-commerce giant Taobao.com, with a cover design resembling the English edition, which was released on July 31. The pirated Chinese edition lists the book’s official Chinese publisher, People's Literature Publishing House, and credits the series' official Chinese translators, Ma Ainong and Ma Aixin.

While the publisher reportedly ordered Taobao to remove the pirated books being sold by 54 stores, many more could still be found as of press time. A number of the stores offered exclusive early sales incentives with delicate packaging and limited editions. Some even came with gifts like Hogwarts bookmarks and stationary.

The books are mostly priced between 28 and 78 RMB. The sellers are largely based in Shanghai and Guangdong. Some top sellers claim to have sold more than 1,000 pirated books, Thepaper.cn reported.

Wang Ruiqin, an editor for previous Chinese editions of Harry Potter books, said the pirated books contain a number of translation errors. The book cover and pages are also of poor quality, according to Thepaper.cn.

People's Literature Publishing House guessed that the books had been translated by various underground translators after the English version was released, and then hurriedly printed so as to be made available before the official Chinese release.