Cloning ancient Chinese towns to boost tourism

[ChinaSucks]

Cloning ancient Chinese towns to boost tourism

Staff Reporter
2012-09-03
08:47 (GMT+8)

Fenghuang County in Xiangxi, Hunnan province of central China. The town was built during the Qing dynasty, approximately 300 years ago.

Two girls wearing the traditional clothes of an ethnic group in Fenghuang County. (Photo/Xinhua)

China's famous tourist attraction Fenghuang County, an ancient town located in Xiangxi, Hunan province of central China, has been teeming with visitors this summer. To deal with the overload, the local government has decided to literally "copy" their success by building another identical town six kilometers away. The construction will begin this year, reports our Chinese-language sister newspaper Want Daily.

The town has a 300-year history with its origins rooted in the Qing Dynasty, cradled by picturesque mountains and rivers. It harbors a unique culture and language formed from different ethnic groups that settled in the area. It was described as one of the two most beautiful towns in China by Rewi Alley, a writer from the New Zealand.

The number of visitors to this historic town has risen from 570,000 to 6.5 million since the 2000. The income from tourism has climbed from less than a million yuan (US$157,000) to 4.4 billion yuan (US$700 million) per year. The daily number of visitors has exceeded 5,000 since August.

The town is now facing problems of overcapacity, as its facilities cannot accommodate such a large number of visitors.

The local government has plans to spend 5.5 billion yuan (US$866 million) building another town that will reportedly be identical to the town at a location only six kilometers away. Yet the cloning of Fenghuang county has been widely debated by netizens as too commercial-oriented.

 

[longbow]

No different from what Disney did (or for that matter Las Vegas and the gondolas). Capture the architecture, some culture but with better plumbing, sewerage, running water, seismic safety and merchandise for sale.

As long as they help preserve the original no harm in building a "clone".

 

[Television]

Nothing wrong with the Chinese cloning themselves, they look similar to everyone.

 

[nonsense]

Nothing wrong with the Chinese cloning themselves, they look similar to everyone.

Well said. Have added your points.

 

[Fook Seng]

Nothing wrong with the Chinese cloning themselves, they look similar to everyone.

You are an Ang Mo ah? Cannot differentiate one Chinese from another.

 

[Fook Seng]

Well said. Have added your points.

I zap you for stupidity.

 

[Rogue Trader]

No different from what Disney did (or for that matter Las Vegas and the gondolas). Capture the architecture, some culture but with better plumbing, sewerage, running water, seismic safety and merchandise for sale.

As long as they help preserve the original no harm in building a "clone".

That's what they did to Suzhou Industrial Park as well!

 

[zeddy]

Nothing wrong with the Chinese cloning themselves, they look similar to everyone.

Kelings from India also looks similiar very similiar to each other..

 

[hairylee]

This is truely going back to the future.

 

[longbow]

Suzhou - Singapore was naive to think that China would grant a foreign country exclusivity; to make money off China. Just like how a CEO responds primarily to shareholders, China only cares about what improve the lives of its citizens. To that end, the Chinese Gov has done a pretty good job.

That's what they did to Suzhou Industrial Park as well!

 

[Rogue Trader]

Suzhou - Singapore was naive to think that China would grant a foreign country exclusivity; to make money off China. Just like how a CEO responds primarily to shareholders, China only cares about what improve the lives of its citizens. To that end, the Chinese Gov has done a pretty good job.

In the 90s China was very much a cowboy town for business. To be fair, several MNCs besides EDB got burnt back then thinking contract law was enforceable.

The group of businessmen I heard who did well during those days were the Taiwanese -- who were more cowboy than the PRCs!

 

[laksaboy]

This is as authentic as a reconstructed hymen.

 

[sleaguepunter]

at least the prc is smart enough to build a replica unlike the pap who destroyed chinatown.