Copycat Architecture is Booming in China

Published in

The Naked Architect

5 min readMar 9, 2020

It’s difficult not to be intrigued by Chinese copycat architecture…. Throughout history China has been incredibly good at absorbing aspects of other countries and cultures and making them their own.

“ China actually has a tradition of architectural mimicry that goes back over two thousand years,” stated Bianca Bosker, the author of Original Copies, a book on China’s Western-themed architecture. “In the third century B.C., for example, emperor Qin Shi Huang celebrated his defeat of rival kingdoms by building replicas of their palaces in his own capital city. Other rulers showed off their authority by building elaborate gardens that were pre-modern versions of today’s theme parks. That past is key for understanding the present.”

Here are some of the strangest copycat monuments including the Eiffel Tower, the Sydney Opera House, the Taj Mahal and even the entire city of Venice….

Little London or Thames Town, near Shanghai, China

Thames Town opened in 2006 with some Tudor-style houses, a fake Thames and an almost Gothic church.

Florentia Village, a district of Wuqing, Tianjin, China

Years ago this was a corn field, but now it is a replica of Venice with a Grand Canal. The project cost about $220 million….

Little Paris or Tianducheng, near Shanghai, China

There is an Eiffel Tower, Parisian style houses and the Champ de Mars. It was built in 2007. There is enough space to house at least 100,000 people, but it’s population is only around 2000 as the property prices are so high.

Shanghai Minhang People’s Court

Window Of The World, Shenzhen

This theme park has more than 100 reproductions of iconic architecture from around the world including a 1:3 scale version of the Eiffel Tower, Christ the Redeemer Statue from Rio de Janeiro and the Taj Mahal.

Huaxi, the Village Of Knockoffs

Other Copy Cat buildings include :-

We must not think that China’s architectural appropriation is unique. Throughout history countries have imitated iconic architectural styles from other countries or cultures. The US once had a reputation for replicating European Architecture. In addition to China at least 23 other countries have built replicas of the Eiffel Tower (America has 10). In recent years South Africa has imitated Italian Architecture with lots of ‘Tuscan Style’ houses.

However the scale of China’s architectural copying is breathtaking. Along with copying buildings or replicating a particular architectural style they are also copying entire cities…..

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I love Architecture. I think it’s vital to talk about all aspects of Architecture — whether it be planning, construction, design or green building. I have written 3 E-Books & over 110 articles. Please feel free to let me know if you have any queries regarding architecture, planning & construction & I will assist you.

I am originally from the UK and moved to South Africa in 1999. I started Blue Designs in 2004 after working as a driver for Avalon Construction on a luxury home in the Featherbrook Estate. In my spare time I am an artist and writer.

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Bizarre Buildings Part Two — Space Age Fantasy

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