16 tourist spots that China ripped off from the rest of the world
A replica of the Statue of Liberty in Shenyang, Northeast China, has been making the rounds on Twitter this morning.But this isn’t the first time we’ve seen large-scale replicas of global tourist destinations in China.
The Asian giant with a rich cultural heritage of its own, has also incorporated architectural styles from around the world and in some instances tried to replicate Paris and towns in England.
Shanghai rolled out a “One city, Nine Towns” scheme with small towns built in a different international style.
We compiled 16 spots that China ripped off — admittedly, some of these are part of larger theme parks.
EGYPT: A full-scale replica of the Sphinx sits in what will be a theme park on the outskirts of Shijiazhuang, Hebei province.
BUDDHAS: China has a replica of the ‘Buddhas of Bamiyan’ that were destroyed by the Taliban.
POLYNESIA: Replicas of the Moai statues carved by the Rapa Nui people in Easter Island can be seen in Beijing.
EGYPT: A traveler takes a photo of a replica of the Karnak Temple at the abandoned Wanguo park in Wuhan, Hubei province.
ITALY: A 1:4 scale replica of the Leaning Tower of Pisa in Shanghai.
PARIS: Tianducheng was built to replicate Paris and included a 354-foot replica of the Eiffel tower.
DISNEYLAND: The park’s management has denied using copies of Walt Disney characters.
ENGLISH TOWNS: There’s Thames Town in China’s Songjiang, near Shanghai which replicates architectural styles from English towns.
HOLLAND: And Holland village with its own windmill.
FLORENCE: A canal flows through the center of a replica Florentine village in China on the outskirts of the city of Tianjin.
HALLSTATT: They also replicated Hallstatt, a UNESCO world heritage site.
US CAPITOL: Full-scale replicas of the U.S. Capitol building have been constructed in the cities of Wuxi and Fuyang.
THE WHITE HOUSE: Of course there’s the White House replica at Beijing World Park.
SYDNEY: And they have a replica of the Sydney Harbour Bridge and Sydney Opera House in Beijing.
ITALY: A replica of the Roman Colosseum is built in Macau, a special administrative region of China.
