CHINA: Little Paris takes shape near China's financial capital of Shanghai

A Chinese developer has brought the delights of Paris to a housing estate on the outskirts of Shanghai, including the world's second-largest replica of the Eiffel Tower. Tianducheng (pron: teeann-doo-cheng), a gated community near Hangzhou, capital of coastal Zhejiang province, boasts its own taste of France with rows of European-style villas to attract China's newly wealthy. The estate's developer, Zhejiang Guangsha Co. Ltd, said the community can house up to 100,000 people when completed. Currently, only 2,000 people reside in the 19 sq km (12 sq mile) complex which opened in June after five years of meticulous landscaping. But they have the space to sit on the steps by the Bassin de Latone, an imitation of the famous fountain in the gardens of the Palace of Versailles and admire the Eiffel Tower looming above. Wang Xufei (pron: wang-she-fay), deputy general manager of Tianducheng, said the plan is to build a multi-faceted residential and commercial area for an international population, in the next ten years. "We hope with the construction for the next five to ten years, it will really become a new development in Hangzhou which is based on the area's Jiangnan culture and also on the unique characteristics of European culture. I feel that is what we are aiming for. In the future, it will not only be the architecture or the culture that will be internationalised, but also its economy and population," he said. According to a promo on the Zhejiang government Web site, the compound will offer amenities ranging from a country club, a school and a hospital after the completion of its third and final phase. Tianducheng is the latest in a growing line of housing communities designed to evoke the charm and lifestyle of old European cities. Thames Town, an hour's drive from Shanghai's skyscrapers, features Georgian and Victorian-style terraced houses-- it caused a minor uproar after English pub owner Gail Caddy accused it of replicating her pub and fish-and-chip shop in Lyme Regis, a town in southwest England. Italian and German towns are also reportedly under construction, and in 2005, shocked English press reported that a Chinese firm in Chengdu, capital of Sichuan province in the country's southwest, was recreating Dorchester, a village in Dorset that inspired novelist Thomas Hardy. But Wang is not put off by critics who lament the lack of originality of China's property developers. "Of course, during this process, we will first of all have to learn about the advanced cultures and experiences of foreign countries. We do not reject the fact that there are times where we replicate certain things. But I feel that this represents the self-confidence of Chinese culture, and the recognition of an internationalised economy," he said. Spurred by common notions of France as a romantic destination, Chinese honeymooners flock to Paris and French wine, handbags and designer labels -- both real and fake -- are popular status symbols in major Chinese cities. And Tianducheng's residents seem happy to have a piece of Paris on Chinese soil. "When I first saw this place, it was a piece of idle land. I only saw the look of the main design and it resembled the scenes of Paris. You see, my son is studying his doctorate in France. He told me that I should buy this house because it would be most ideal. In the future, when he comes back, he will be able to see something that is reminiscent of his days abroad. So that is why I chose to buy a place here," said Tianducheng resident, Xie Aiguo (pron: hsieh-eye-goore). Tianducheng's Eiffel Tower is 108 meters (354 feet) high, second only to the 165-metre replica at the Paris Las Vegas hotel in Nevada, and 8 meters higher than the third-largest in China's southern city of Shenzhen.

ITN Source | October 22, 2007

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