Inside China's mini-Paris: Town built to look just like French capital complete with its own Eiffel Tower and Champs Elysées
- Tianducheng development designed to look just like the French capital
- But it has been labelled a 'ghost town' because fewer people than expected have moved in
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With the Eiffel Tower standing proudly above decorative European buildings, this looks like a magnificent view of the famous French capital.
However, not all is at it seems. Incredibly, this Parisian scene is actually in the middle of China.
The Tianducheng development in Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province, is filled with grand European buildings and wide walkways.
Ornate fountains and statues also line the streets of the town.
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Empty: The town is designed to accommodate at least 10,000 people but it has instead been labelled as a ghost town
Fierce: A huge thunder storm streaks across the Eiffel Tower replica
Replica: With China's love of all things French,
the developers must have thought they were onto a winner when they
built Tianducheng
Copy-cat: The town is filled with Parisian houses and, despite being in the middle of China, has a distinct European feel
During its construction in 2007, a replica of the Eiffel Tower standing at 108 metres was even built.
There is also a replica of a fountain from the Luxemburg Gardens in a main square called Champs Elysées.
With China's love of all things French, the developers no doubt expected the town to be a huge success.
But things haven't quite worked out as they would have hoped.
Different: Despite attempting to look like the famous French city, the town is is surrounded by farmland and dirt roads
Quirky: Almost everything about the town has a European edge, such as this fountain
Odd: This image perhaps best demonstrates the
confusion at the heart of the town. A farmer tills the surrounding
farmland in front of the Eiffel Tower
Looking good: Despite not exactly proving popular, the town does look impressive
Quaint: The Tianducheng development is located in the Zhejiang Province of China . This picture shows a farmer's house
Plush: This resident stands on the balcony of his apartment at the development, admiring the empty streets below
Shop: Despite being nowhere near as busy as the
developers hoped for, it still contains a number of businesses,
including this supermarket
Despite being designed to accommodate at least ten thousand people, the town remains sparsely populated.
Local media have now started labelling it as a 'ghost town', with pictures showing the large streets remaining virtually empty.
Images from the town show how China's aspirations and its traditional culture collide.
Surrounded by farmland and wide roads, farmers can be seen working in fields with the mock Eiffel Tower looming over them.
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