Chinese Duplitecture

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If you're travelling across China, you might come across the Eiffel Tower, surrounded by 12 square miles of Parisian-style buildings and landscape. Elsewhere in the country, you might be in Holland or a version of the American West. What began as a government-led project to build 10 satellite cities in the style of different cities is now a pastime.

Duplitecture

China's economic rise resulted in a newly affluent middle class. In China, mimicry is seen as a form of mastery and is often encouraged. It has not only copied famous architectural marvels but, in some cases, entire cities. "Duplitecture" is what author Bianca Bosker calls this phenomenon.

It emerged as a trend in the 1990s. For many Chinese citizens, the opportunity to live in housing that represents the historic grandeur of the West is appealing. They eventually could afford that and become part of an urban elite. Things really took off in the early 2000s with imitations of Versailles, Paris, and Beverly Hills. While they've become somewhat ubiquitous, foreign visitors still see them as an enigma.

Once the commercial real estate market opened, it was an architectural free-for-all. You have eco-cities, smart cities, sponge cities, strangely shaped skyscrapers, and cultural centres that look like water slides. Then came dozens of White Houses, many Arc de Triomphe, and Sydney Opera Houses. While other countries have done something similar, China stands out for a couple of reasons - the sheer scale and not being limited to just monuments but entire cities.

Bringing the world home

While China's rising middle class are exploring the world, it's still expensive and difficult. So, visiting the Eiffel Tower in Hangzhou is the next best thing. That's what developers counted on. Domestic travel has contributed billions of dollars ($1.3 trillion in 2017 alone) and visiting these sites has become a cottage industry.

Paris-based photographer Francois Prost noticed that many of the city's residents go about their day like they would anywhere else in China. Artists Sebastian Acker and Phil Thompson documented these "copy towns". To them, it seemed like illusions, but there wasn't one single reason why these cities are the way they are. It's certainly a far cry from Mao's regime, where displays of wealth weren't possible.

Architect Tony Mackay was the master planner of the Thames Town housing scheme and the surrounding district of Songjiang. He transformed farms into cobbled streets, pubs, and half-timbered Tudor houses. Even to him, it's not quite right. The proportions are off, and it's not exactly the same materials and techniques.

Some found cities like Tianducheng, designed to look like Paris, too weird and inconvenient. At Little Paris or Tianducheng near Shanghai, there's enough space to house 1 lakh people. Sky high prices mean only about 2,000 live there.

Other cities have fared better. One resident, Rachel Ni, told ABC News that she found the city strange but stays there since it's cheap. One sought-after house in China's version of Jackson Hole, Wyoming, sold for over $2 million since it's close to Beijing.

Here are some other examples:

• Guandong is a replica of Hallstatt, Austria. It's got European-style wooden houses and Disney-themed photo spots scattered throughout.
• There's a Rockefeller Centre and the Twin Towers in Tianjin as part of its faux-Manhattan architecture. There's also a part of Tianjin inspired by Florence with canals and fountains that cost $220 million to develop.
• In Suzhou, there's a seemingly accurate copy of London's Tower Bridge. It's a popular wedding photo destination. That's not all. It also has its own Sydney Harbour Bridge and a Dutch town, complete with windmills.

Has it been worth it?

While some see these towns and cities as a plain novelty factor, not all of these have worked. The Chinese government has previously said these knock-off cities are "at odds with core Socialist values". They also haven't attracted a large number of residents. Take Thames Town, for example. It was supposed to be busy with residents but is mostly used for wedding photographs.

China maintained its economic growth by simply building more and more. An endless production line of highways, skyscrapers, and housing estates. It's all in the name of job creation.

The government had enough and began clamping down to promote local design. A statement read, "Plagiarising, imitating, and copycatting" designs are prohibited in new public facilities. Years of mimicry become mastery. All this copying could eventually give way to creativity. As one resident of Thames Town said, while the hardware may be English, the software is Chinese.