China Has Built Surreal Replica Cities Of Paris, London, And Jackson Hole, Wyoming

They say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, and this concept has been taken to its limit in China, where it's possible to visit other iconic cities around the world without having to step foot out of the country. These replica cities were born from the "One City, Nine Towns" initiative, a project launched in 2001 by the Shanghai Planning Commission, aiming to draw the population away from major cities and into sprawling European-themed developments across the country. 

The eerily accurate replicas are perfect examples of "duplitecture" — a term describing an "intentional, functioning copy of a pre-existing, and often familiar, piece of architecture," as per architerraX. The trend of creating these models was popular in the early 2000s, with European-inspiried cities popping up across China. Though most of them have been dubbed as ghost towns, having failed to attract and deliver thriving communities to its developments, these duplitectures are still oddly fascinating destinations for urban explorers and the curious at heart.

Three that stand out are the duplicate cities of Paris, London, and Jackson Hole, Wyoming. Rows of Chinese high-rises loom behind a replica of an Eiffel Tower in Tianducheng's Sky City; storefronts written in Mandarin line the quaint cobblestone streets of a faux British town near Shanghai; and snow covers the rooftops of the wood- and stone-clad homes in a town that uncannily resembles Wyoming's Jackson Hole just north of Beijing.

In Tianducheng, located on the fringes of Hangzhou, is Sky City. The former rural farmland was turned into a real estate development built to faithfully recreate Paris, landmarks and architecture included. Here, in China's "Paris of the East," you can stroll along Haussmannian buildings down the Champs-Élysées against the backdrop of the Eiffel Tower, which stands at about one-third of the scale of the original one. A wide avenue gives way to a recreation of Jardin du Luxembourg's Fontaine de l'Observatoire. The resemblance is uncanny, but a closer look reveals surreal details: the newer sheen of the buildings' facades, Mandarin shopfront signs, and lines of laundry hanging from the wrought-iron balconies, a common sight in China.

Built in 2007 by Chinese developers, Sky City was intended as a luxury housing estate for the wealthy. Yet the forecasted 10,000 residents for which the city had developed did not materialize. Over the years, it merely drew curious onlookers and couples using the copycat Parisian landscape as a backdrop for their wedding photos. Despite its reputation as a ghost city, recent travelers have debunked this theory. Although it's eerily empty during the day, the city comes to life as residents return from work or school. Though the real estate boom didn't come as expected, this faux Paris is considered home to a chosen few.

Tianducheng is a 30-minute drive from Hangzhou. To take the metro, hop on Line One from Datieguan to Yuhang station and take a short taxi ride to Sky City. From Shanghai, take the Line 10 subway and a connecting train to get to Hangzhou in about 1.5 hours.

Just one hour away from Shanghai, you can soak in the decidedly British atmosphere of Thames Town, yet another copycat development. It was completed in 2006 with the intention of enticing residents who could afford its higher-than-average price tags to settle within this idyllic British community — and hopefully recoup its $650 million in construction costs. While housing in Thames Town was snatched up by wealthy Chinese buyers as their secondary homes, the town remains largely empty to this day and mostly draws tourists looking for a quirky British day trip without leaving the country.

Cobblestone streets, neat rows of Tudor-style houses, iconic red phone booths, and (just in case the theme wasn't obvious enough by now) statues of Winston Churchill, James Bond, and Harry Potter make up the Thames Town's urban landscape. A replica of Bristol's Christ Church is often used as a backdrop for marriage photo-ops. Town activity seems to vary according to the time of the week, as more people explore the town during the weekend.

While it's a far cry from an authentic English village with cobblestones and a fairy-tale charm, it's enough for a Instagram photo or two. From Shanghai, getting to Thames Town is an easy metro ride (Line Nine to Songjiang University Town stop) and a corresponding tram ride (Songjiang Tram T2 to Thames Town West Station). From downtown Shanghai, it'll take a little under an hour by car.

Yet another example of duplitecture that is so surprising it'll give you whiplash is the replica city of Wyoming's Jackson Hole region, an exclusive gated community promising its elite residents the ideologies associated with the much-pursued American dream: identity, community, and prosperity. Plans for the town were hatched in 2004 by developer Liu Xiangshang, as the height of the cloning trends swept the nation. Allison Smith, a designer from Oregon, was brought in to create the homes and their interiors, which grew to 1,500 individual dwellings sporting the rugged Wild West aesthetic by 2009. The earliest homes in the development fetched sums of $180,000 to $330,000 — an eye-watering price in China during the early 2000s — and have steadily grown in price since.

Just an hour's drive from Beijing, the mountain ranges of Taihang and Yan appear in the distance, stand-ins for Wyoming's Teton Range (America's best national parks for those who hate hiking). In addition to the mountain resort-like dwellings with stone cladding and faux weathered wood, China's Jackson Hole has recreated landmarks such as the Million Dollar Cowboy Bar, a Christian church, and the Teton Village commercial center. Security guards at the complex's entrance are decked in cowboy garb and roam the streets on golf carts. Most dwellings serve as secondary homes for homeowners seeking refuge in the surreal yet comforting Americana complex whose name literally translates to "Hometown, USA." Admittedly, it does lack Wyoming's plentiful hot springs, but well, you can't have everything.