Chinese ‘copycat’ English town

The Thames Town is complete with pub, fish-and-chip shop and even a bronze statue of Winston Churchill

SONGJIANG: China, often regarded as the copycat capital of the world with fake designer bags and even counterfeit cars, has added a new string to its imitation bow — an English town.   

An hour’s drive from Shanghai’s skyscrapers in the suburb of Songjiang lies Thames Town, complete with pub, fish-and-chip shop and even a bronze statue of British wartime leader Winston Churchill.    There is a neo-Gothic church as well as Georgian and Victorian-style terraced houses that would not look out of place in the poshest parts of London.   

“I wanted the properties to look exactly the same as those in the United Kingdom,” James Ho, the director of privately owned Shanghai Henghe Real Estate Co. Ltd., one of the town’s five developers.  

“I think English properties are very special. When we decide to learn from others, we should not make any improvements or changes. I emphasised this policy to my staff,” he said.

The development, which cost about 5 billion yuan ($635 million), is expected to house 10,000 people. Most of the houses have been sold, however, the town is hardly bustling: few residents have moved in and most of the shops are not yet open for business.

During a recent visit, the only signs of life were couples in heavy make-up having their wedding snaps taken. “I can’t find such unique buildings in Shanghai’s city centre,” said Emily Ma, before having a wedding picture taken. “I just love Western-style buildings,” she gushed.   

Yet that copycat feeling has irked some people, not least Gail Caddy from Lyme Regis in Dorset, southwest England. She said her pub and fish-and-chip shop have been replicated in Thames Town in the suburb of Songjiang. Her establishments, the Rock Point Inn and Cob Gate Fish Bar, have both been reproduced almost exactly, though Caddy’s fish-and-chip shop is spelt ‘Cobb.’

“As you can imagine, the jokes are absolutely rife here,” she said. “They are as follows: “'I have been Shanghaied” and “My business is on the Chinese take-away menu.”    Caddy, who found out from the British press that her shops had been copied in China, is more peeved than amused. “I feel cheated considering that they have copied the whole unique experience of my two businesses here,” she said.   

Paul Rice, an associate director from Atkins Shanghai, a British agency which designed the project, said they did not knowingly copy anything. “Maybe it’s a little bit of a misunderstanding,” he explained. “It’s not in any way supposed to be a replica.”

Rice said it just so happened that Atkins had offices in parts of England near historic towns like Lyme Regis and Bath, which inspired their designs. Almost all the houses have been sold for prices starting at three million yuan ($3,81,000). Most buyers are from Shanghai.   

The city itself is no stranger to European architecture. Art Deco and neoclassical buildings put up in its colonial heyday at the turn of the 20th century still dot Shanghai, most noticeably on the historic Bund waterfront.

“Traditionally, Chinese people think China is in the centre of the world. So it makes sense to build foreign-style towns around Shanghai because this will make most Chinese proud,” said designer Huang Ziaming from Tian Hua Construction Design.   

British architecture is not the only inspiration for town planners in China. An Italian and German town are also planned.

A year ago, a shocked English press was full of stories about how Dorchester, the country town in Dorset that inspired novelist Thomas Hardy, was being recreated in Chengdu, central China, after a Chinese developer saw it on a Christmas card. The name of the place? British Town.