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Crazy £540m ghost town replica of London – 5,700 miles away | World | News

Posted on by L. Dreeye
Crazy £540m ghost town replica of London – 5,700 miles away | World | News

The quaint town looks just like an English city, despite being 5,700 miles from London.

Thames Townlocated in the Songjiang region of China, approximately 12 miles from downtown Shanghai. This is an intriguing combination of architectural styles with influences from various British cities.

The project began in 2003, when Shanghai built several cities inspired by the architecture of other countries, including the Dutch-inspired Gaoqiao and the German-style Anting, to accommodate its rapidly growing population, according to Love Property.

They were built to become part of the “one city” of Songjiang.

But the most famous of these is Thames Town, home to London-style canals, imitation Tudor houses and buildings that owe a great debt to sites such as Chester, Lyme Regis, Bristol and Birmingham.

The exhibition features all the classic British iconography, including old-fashioned red telephone boxes, cobbled streets, fish and chip shops and even a statue of Winston Churchill.

James Ho, director of Shanghai Henghe Real Estate Co. Ltd., a top-five developer in the city, said in 2006: “Buyers always welcome beautiful buildings. … If the style of the building is different, it will have its own market, it will be easy to make money, it will increase profits,” NPR reports.

Built in just over three years, Thames Town reportedly cost ¥5 billion (£540 million) to build and was designed to provide enough space for a population of 10,000 people.

But when almost all the properties were bought at the first sales by wealthy investors, prices soared and the middle class they had built could not afford them.

Two years after the project’s completion, the population continued to number in the hundreds and only grew to 2,300 by 2014.

But while it may not have become the residential hub its planners hoped, visitors to the city say it is worth a visit.

One TripAdvisor reviewer who visited the city in 2021 said: “I decided to visit Thamestown on Saturday. There weren’t very many people there, but still quite crowded!

“I had to take three subways and a didi to get here! The city is very beautiful! It feels like I’m back in the UK! A lovely little town to just stroll around and escape Shanghai!”

Another reviewer who visited in 2020 said it was “not a ghost town at all.”

“When we arrived, it was full of people just enjoying the day there,” they wrote.

“The Thames was beautifully built. Many couples have had their wedding photos taken there. Families walked their dogs. It’s nice to enjoy the architecture and statues,” they said.