How China launched a £1 billion 'Parisian dupe' with the Eiffel Tower and French architecture… and why it became a 'ghost town'

CHINA built its own rip-off “Paris of the East” – complete with a fake Eiffel Tower and French architecture.

Tianducheng even shows off Parisian walkways, cafes, parks and signage.

China built a rip-off of Paris called Tianducheng, with its own Eiffel Tower and Parisian architectureCredit: Reuters

The luxury property development opened in 2007 after a massive £1 billion construction projectCredit: Reuters

The real Eiffel Tower in Paris, FranceCredit: Getty

But for years the ostentatious imitation was anything but one ghost townwith only 2,000 inhabitants who call it their maison.

The luxury real estate Development opened in 2007 after a massive £1 billion construction project.

It's a copy cat Eiffel Tower is 220 meters shorter than the French original and is only 107 meters high.

Although it is an imitation of the Champs-Élysées Avenue was called Xiangxie Road before it was switched back to its French name.

Developers even gave Tianducheng its own version Palace of Versailles gardens with geometric plants and fountains.

And with streets upon streets of Parisian-style homes, you'd be forgiven for confusing the clone with the French capital.

But despite all this, the fake City of Lovers failed to make anyone fall head over heels for it.

This was partly due to the difficult-to-reach location in rural Zhejiang province.

Incredibly, between 2007 and 2013, only about 2,000 people lived in a city built for 10,000.

But as the Haussmann-style houses remained empty, the eerie town attracted crowds of tourists.

These included newlyweds looking for a perfect backdrop for their wedding photos.

But in 2017, word got around about the European wannabe and it had a population of 30,000.

The Eiffel Tower in Tianducheng is not the only Chinese dupe of the famous French tower.

There is also a 108-meter high one in the southern city of Shenzhen, which borders Hong Kong.

It's one of dozens of bizarre “fake” landmarks built by China during its “duplitecture” obsession.

Other weirdness includes one victim of London's Tower BridgeAlpine villages and even the Sydney Opera House.

Bianca Bosker, who has written about the Chinese imitation cities, explained Nat Geo in 2018: “It appears that entire townships and villages have been airlifted from their historical and geographical foundations in England, France, Greece, the United States and Canada.”