The fake city of Paris... in China!


Do you remember our blog post about the Chinese replica of the Austrian village of Hallstatt? They built a full scale replica of the Apline village in the Guangdong province of China. Well, it doesn’t stop there – the Chinese have also designed replicas of Italian, German, English and French towns.

Paris replica

One such place is Tianducheng, modelled on the capital city of Paris. It comes complete with a 354-foot replica of the Eiffel Tower (the real Tower is actually about three times as high) and a fountain inspired by the famous fountain in the gardens of the Palace of Versailles. The development began in 2007 but the city remains something of a ghost town with only about 2,000 residents, when 10,000 were planned for, and is symptomatic of a large property bubble.

Rather than becoming a thriving residential area, it is today little more than a venue that newlyweds like to visit for photographs. All rather odd, don’t you think?! If you are interested in seeing and hearing more, have a look at the videos below:


Comments (5)

  1. John says:

    Chinese people are absolutely amazing! Not surprised about this fake city over there :D

    Wanna go to China!!!!

  2. Vee says:

    This is pathetic. They should be proud of their heritage and have their architects design buildings that reflect that heritage. Instead, they copy someone else’s look. Par for the course I would say.

  3. Rebecca says:

    I’m bored and sorry to see this fake tower in Chinese ancient culture city Hangzhou. The government obviously is for money, not responsible for people, for future. Why not build Chinese own beautiful tower or old town? Why crest ugly small iron tower? What’s that for? Who can answer to the people?

  4. ARP1922 says:

    I prefer the real Paris. I think they should make their own traditional cities. They have a milenary culture, soo, why don´t they use it?? It´s ridiculous.

  5. Hankwabk says:

    Ever heard of the fake Paris in Vegas? Or the fake Pyramids and fake Michelangelo in Vegas? Why not call Vegas the city of fakes. USA makes good fakes that rival China. Fake (Little) Italy in NYC. Koreatown in LA. Fake breasts all over USA. Shall we go on?

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