Thread: China's fake Paris ghostown

Mamta Badkar, Business Insider | 13/08/03 | Last Updated: 13/08/02 2:38 PM ET

If you visit Tianducheng, a day trip from Shanghai in China’s Zhejiang province, you will be confronted by a 354-foot replica of the Eiffel tower.

Development on this Paris replica in China began in 2007, but local media say it is a ghost town now.

Everyone points to China’s ghost towns as proof of a malaise in China’s property sector.

But some, like Stephen Roach, former chairman of Morgan Stanley Asia have argued that these cities will become “thriving metropolitan areas” as China continues to urbanize.

What’s truly quirky about these ghost towns though is that some of them have been designed as replicas of Italian, German, English, and French towns.

We drew on photos from Reuters photographer Aly Song to give you a peek at Tianducheng.

Tianducheng, a Paris replica, began to be developed in China in 2007.


Reuters/Aly Song



A residential area was built around a replica of the Eiffel tower.


Reuters/Aly Song



The replica of the Eiffel tower is 108 meters (354 feet) tall. The actual Eiffel tower is 3x as tall.


Reuters/Aly Song



The town was designed to accommodate 10,000 people.


Reuters/Aly Song



There’s even a “gated community” that occupies 12 square miles.


Reuters/Aly Song



But now, according to local media, the city is largely a ghost town.


Reuters/Aly Song



As few as 2,000 are said to be there but there is very little information available on Tianducheng.


Reuters/Aly Song



The company that developed the town is called Zhejiang Guangsha Co. Ltd.


Reuters/Aly Song



The developers also planned to create a school, hospital, and a country club.


Reuters/Aly Song



Newlyweds often visit Tianducheng and have photographs taken here. So that’s one thing going for it.


REUTERS/Aly Song



You can stay in the Paris of the East at the Tianducheng Resort starting at $82 a night.


Reuters/Aly Song



They even built a fountain inspired by the famous fountain in the gardens of the Palace of Versailles.


Reuters/Aly Song



The town was “spurred by common notions of France as a romantic destination,” according to Reuters.


Reuters/Aly Song



Look how European it is.


Reuters/Aly Song



Tianducheng isn’t the only replica of a European city in China.


Reuters/Aly Song



We also have towns inspired by Italian, German and English towns.


Reuters/Aly Song



Critics of China’s growth model have said these ghost towns are symptomatic of a large property bubble.


Reuters/Aly Song


http://business.financialpost.com/2013/08/03/china-tried-to-build-a-city-to-replicate-paris-and-heres-what-it-looks-like-now/

"The town was designed to accommodate 10,000 people." Even if, Chinese-style, they manage to cram 10x that number into La Ville-Lumière Chinoiserie it still won't be of much help in moving 250 million Chinese into cities by 2025 China Plans to Move 250 Million into Cities by 2025 | ArchDaily (which ought to be really interesting).

Originally Posted by Thormaturge

If the Chinese copy Fobbing, in Essex, I'll be happy to pop into the White Lion for a Guinness and pork scratchings.

Don't hold your breath Scunthorpe,Gravesend and Ashford (allegedly 4th best town in UK hahaha,based on ease of escape to Europe or London!) are ahead in the queue.

There is also a strafenlager planned combining the Liverpool lifestyle the cuisine of Crewe and the amenities of Dundee