China doing what it does best – copy

An insight into the Chinese way of thinking.

China replicating Western towns

Thames Town is a typically idyllic British town. You can’t miss the red phone booths or telephone boxes as the Brits call them. You can see the odd London taxi or black cab, and then, of course, there is the local Tudor-style pub with real ale – lovely for a summer holiday, right?

So how do you get there?

Well, don’t go to England. Thames Town is not by the River Thames. It is by the Yangtze in China. Thames Town is one of a group of new townships outside Shanghai that are all built on the theme of another country.

Now, we stumbled on the story when we learned that while the Brits might be flattered, the Austrians got quite upset when they heard about plans to copy one of their famous towns. China is reportedly building a replica of the Austrian town of Hallstatt, complete with winding roads and a lake.

What I would love to find in China is a beautiful replica of a traditional Chinese village, but these have become almost impossible to find nowadays.

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