Three Reproduction European Neighborhoods in China That Will Blow Your Mind

Dear expats: have you ever felt homesick while living in China? Missing those small pedestrian alleys, colorful town houses, and centuries-old baroque architecture? Well, it seems that some Chinese businessmen share this feeling, embarking on mind-blowing projects to recreate well-known cities and landmarks from across around the World. These faux Western cities have popped up all over China, often ending up as modern-day ghost towns.

Tianducheng: An empty, fake Paris

This pioneering project originated in the imagination of a wealthy Chinese businessman in 2007. The luxury real estate development project, whose name literally translates as “Sky Capital City”, is located a few hours away from Shanghai in the suburbs of Hangzhou. It bears a striking resemblance to the iconic City of Light: The Eiffel Tower is there (or more accurately one third of it, as it is only 100 meters tall as opposed to 300 meters), public squares stand on every corner, and Haussmann-style buildings grow alongside a reproduction of the world-famous Champs Elysées. However, one key thing is missing: people.

Why has Tianducheng struggled to bring in inhabitants? It appears that locals haven’t responded to the idea in quite the way the developers expected: as appealing and exotic the neighborhood may seem, it is not real, and those that did move in felt that they were living in an imaginary bubble. And while the brochures for the penthouses touted views over the Seine, Jardins Tuileries, and Notre-Dame, in reality all they offered was pollution and a forest of buildings.

Hallstatt: A UNESCO protected Austrian town in the heart of Guangdong province

Tianducheng may have been the pioneer, but many projects have since followed in its footsteps. One such reproduction did not exactly enchant the residents of the original community. Meet Hallstatt, a bucolic, lakeside town in central Austria that attracts tourists and nature lovers from all over the world and has been protected by UNESCO. Clearly China was not indifferent to the town’s charm, and sent architects and photographers to launch a project to create a copy of Hallstatt in Huizhou, southern China. When Hallstatt found out about those plans in 2011, the reaction was mixed. While some viewed this project with skepticism, the mayor of the city viewed it as an opportunity to attract more tourism in Hallstatt and expand their cooperation with China.

Thames Town: British themed city that has become a famous spot for wedding pictures

Located a few miles away from Shanghai, in the suburbs near Songjiang University, Thames Town was created as part of Shanghai’s “One City, Nine Towns” scheme of constructing a cluster of nine municipalities. Brits will certainly feel at home among the gothic churches, red telephone boxes, and other things associated with British culture and history. Amongst the most iconic attractions are the statues of Churchill and Harry Potter. But are we really in London? The Chinese characters displayed on the front of each shop are there to bring reality back. The town has now become a favorite spot for newlyweds to take their wedding pictures, and it is easy to spot the dressed up couples and photographers. Like its other faux-European counterparts, Thames Town has not achieved the success it anticipated. The project reportedly cost 5 billion CNY to build and is designed to house more than 10,000 people, including students and staff from nine universities in the area. More than ten years later, it is home to less than 1,000. The town is full of empty residences purchased by wealthy businessmen and families as secondary homes, making prices skyrocket – almost to the level of London real estate prices! The empty residential area not only feels like being on a Hollywood set, it eerily recalls a sort of real life Truman Show.

Other replica projects include a copy of the American town of Jackson Hole in Wyoming, copies of London Bridge and the Alexandre III bridge in Paris, and a reproduction Venice. The most impressive of all remains the Zhang Chateau Lafitte in the suburbs of Beijing, a modern copy of the majestic 1651 Château de Maisons-Laffite in Paris. Today, it has been turned into a luxury hotel, spa, and wine museum, and its employees wear French traditional uniforms. ■

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Images: Next Nature, Flickr (triplefivechina), Hangzhou Weekly