Property developers in China have created an artificial English town. Located on the outskirts of Shanghai, "Thames Town" contains such quintessentially English essentials as Georgian- and Victorian-style terrace houses, a pub and fish and chip shop and a statue of Winston Churchill. The owner of the original fish and chip shop, in Lyme Regis, meanwhile, is quite annoyed with her business having been copied lock, stock and barrel without permission.

Of course, unless the high street is comprised entirely of chain stores, it's not a real English town but a vaguely Disneylandish (or perhaps Portmeirionesque) idealised one. In any case, it will soon be joined by other European-style developments, with an Italian and German town being planned. And apparently the entire town of Dorchester is being reconstructed in Chengdu, under the name "British Town".

Posted by: Ed | http://asseptic.org/blog/ | Thu Nov 9 16:37:24 2006

Once again life imitates (supposedly) weird science fiction. Victorian settlements in China remind me of Neal Stephenson's 'The Diamond Age'.

Posted by: acb | http://dev.null.org/acb/ | Thu Nov 9 18:21:40 2006

Good call.

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