Paris in china

   

↓  See More  ↓

     

   

 

 

Only in China can you find pieces of Athens, Amsterdam, New York, London, Venice, and Washington, DC, all within the same national border. The country is littered with the romantic monuments and historic urban centers of world cities, re-created with great accuracy, if not craftsmanship. Thames Town outside of Shanghai conjures interwar Britain, with its array of (mock-) mock-Tudor houses, brick civic centers, and a neo-Gothic church. In Chongqing, a relatively crude copy of the Chrysler Building crowns the central business district.

And then there’s Tianducheng, a new town just outside of Hangzhou that’s prone to fog and grey skies. Ah, Paris! Through the haze you can see mansard roofs, Haussmannian boulevards, and the Champs-Élysées--though rendered as a large square. It all culminates, bien sur, in a 108-meter replica of the Eiffel Tower.