From the Sphinx to the White House: The World-Famous 8 Chinese Replicas

China is not only getting good at making high copies of world-class brand-name products. Chinese replicas are not different, making high copies of buildings. Some are built for entertainment purposes, like replicas of the Sydney Opera House or Pisa Tower, while others are actually made to be inhabited by people.

Those Chinese Replicas are all over China now. Although we could dislike copying somebody else’s work, one recalls that many of the world’s monumental buildings are arguably copied from each other. The White House, for example, has many common features with the Irish Parliament building in Dublin, which was, in turn, inspired by Classic Roman architecture.

The World-Famous 8 Chinese Replicas

Now, let’s check some of those monumental buildings from all over the world. No, wait! From China:

1) The White House, Hangzhou

Huang Qiaoling is a businessman who created an identical copy of the White House in Hangzhou. The new White House even has an Oval Office and a gallery of portraits of American leaders. In addition, the businessman also has small-scale copies of Mount Rushmore and the Washington Monument. The kooky estate of the Chinese businessman is now an attraction that even former US President George W. Bush visited in 2002.

Also read: Architectural Imitation: Were the Designs of these Exquisite Buildings Copied?

2) The Sphinx, Chuzhou, Anhui province

The Sphinx is the guardian of the Pyramids of Giza, Egypt. For thousands of years, there has been one and only one Sphinx in the whole world. But then, a twin brother of the Sphinx showed up thousands of miles away in an entertainment park in China. The new Sphinx has been recently constructed in the city of Chuzhou in Anhui province.

3) The Hallstatt, Huizhou, Guangdong province

This UNESCO world heritage site didn’t spare from Chinese replicas. A Chinese corporation built a similar site that cost around $1 billion in Huizhou.

4) The Kremlin, Mentougou district, Beijing

The Chinese Kremlin is a government building accommodating many government departments, including the Mentougou Weather Bureau in Beijing’s Mentougou district. Locals say the new structure is strikingly similar to Moscow’s Kremlin. The total investment in the building was 9.34 million yuan, according to an online public bid-winning notice (1.54 million USD).

5) The Colosseum, Macau

The Roman Colosseum replica is one of the most amusing replicas in China. It is located at Fisherman’s Wharf, a locally owned amusement park with a casino. This area is the only place across China where casinos and gambling activities are legal.

6) Chateau Maisons-Laffitte, Beijing

Did Francois Mansart ever wonder if his work would be duplicated across the globe after centuries of its construction? The French architect designed Chateau Maisons-Laffitte in 1650. The Chinese replica is a hotel dubbed Beijing Chateau Laffitte Hotel.

7) Karnak Temple, Wuhan, Province of Hubei

As shown, a tourist photographs a replica of the infamous Egyptian Karnak Temple in Wuhan, Hubei province’s abandoned Wanguo park.

8) English Towns, Songjiang, Shanghai

Not only did China replicate well-known buildings, but they also copied architectural styles from English towns, as indicated below from Thames town, located 40 minutes away from Shanghai’s downtown. It’s stated that houses in Thames Town sold quickly. Still, the middle class did not arrive as intended due to a real estate crash in China, which priced homes out of most Shanghai residents’ reach, and most were instead purchased as investments or second homes by wealthy Chinese, leaving Thames Town as a ghost down as described.