China’s Copycat Cities Are Eerie Replicas of Paris, London, Venice, You Name It – But Why Were They Built?

China has built realistic (and not so realistic) replicas of iconic Western cities, but was their motivation?

Have you ever dreamed of visiting Paris, the city of love, but couldn’t afford the trip? This was probably the question on the mind of Chinese city planners when they created a place that looks almost exactly like Paris, complete with a replica of the Eiffel Tower, the Arc de Triomphe, and the Champs Elysées – only it’s in China.

The place is called Tianducheng, which means “Sky Capital City” and it is located in the Hangzhou province. Tianducheng was built in 2007 and was designed to be a replica of Paris, with 31 km2 of Parisian-style architecture, fountains and landscaping. It can accommodate more than 10,000 residents and attracts many tourists, especially newlyweds who want to take photos with the romantic backdrop.

Initially, only 2,000 people moved in, making it look more like a ghost town. By 2017, however, the population reached 30,000, and the development underwent multiple expansions.

But Tianducheng is not the only city in China that has copied famous landmarks from other countries. There are also replicas of Jackson Hole, Wyoming, Thames Town in England, Stratford-upon-Avon in tribute to Shakespeare, Hallstatt in Austria, and many more.

The fascination with ‘fake cities’ has taken hold in China during the 21st century, creating a somewhat surreal, and sometimes rather eerie, world. Emerging partly in response to the uninspiring Communist-era architecture prevalent in China from the 1950s to the 1990s and partly as a marketing strategy, Western-themed cities promise not only homes but a particular lifestyle, albeit often a fantastical interpretation of Western reality. Although many of these cities are deserted, some are flourishing and are actually worth a visit.

Thames Town, for example, is modeled on a traditional British-style market town, complete with mock Tudor buildings, cobbled streets, an English-style church, a pub, red telephone boxes and even a bronze statue of James Bond. The town covers an area of one square kilometer and was designed to house 10,000 residents, but today it’s more like a ghost town that attracts more visitors than residents.

Or take Venice Town in Dalian, Liaoning Province, China. It features over 2.5 miles of Venetian-style canals, numerous gondolas, and replicas of Renaissance-era Italian architecture lining the canal, all constructed by a French architectural firm at a cost of approximately 5 billion yuan (£592 million). Unlike Tianducheng and Thames Town, Venice Town is not a residential area but a commercial and entertainment complex.

These cities are examples of what some call “duplitecture”, a phenomenon of architectural mimicry in contemporary China. Some critics say that these cities are nothing more than kitschy knockoffs, while others argue that they are a symbol of China’s skill and technological advancement. Some also see them as a way for China to assert its global influence and identity.

So why do people choose to live in these fake cities? Some say that they offer a better quality of life than the crowded and polluted urban centers. Some say that they are attracted by the novelty and the exoticism of living in a foreign-style environment. Some say that they are simply fans of the original culture and want to experience it without leaving their country. Whatever the reason, these cities show that China has a fascination with the world and its diversity.

As for the outside world, some people criticize these towns as tacky and soulless, while others see them as a form of mastery and admiration. Most agree, however, that they look, well, somewhat surreal. What’s your opinion?

Sources: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5