"Here used to be original Asian city with lots of original style buildings. Now it has been developed and all of that is now gone. It is a pity," a … [Read more...]
Ghost Town? Replica Town? Shanghai’s British Town Remains A Facade
Shanghai's Thames Town could have been a ghost city, but I really couldn't tell with all the brides everywhere. Yes, the entire village is speckled … [Read more...]
Inside Manzhouli, China’s Russian City
Manzhouli is a place on the edge. Literally, it sits at the edge of China, Russia, and Mongolia. Its name even means "In Manchuria." Up until the 1991 … [Read more...]
China’s Manhattan Knock-Off Aspires To Be Bigger And Better Than The Real Thing
"You are building Manhattan," I joked with a group of construction workers in what is becoming Tianjin's new financial district. He nodded his head … [Read more...]
China’s Knock-Off Cities and Western Architectural Copycatting, What Does This Mean?
China has perhaps always had a penchant for replicating the architecture of other powerful cultures through the ages. From the Qin Dynasty building … [Read more...]
A Visit to Hallstatt, China: An Austrian Village Cloned
I descended a hill and rounded a bend, said hello a security guard decked out in some kind of Germanic military uniform, then walked out onto a … [Read more...]