Saturday 6 December 2014

Quelle horreur! Chinese town creates huge vegetable garden below 300ft Eiffel Tower replica after miniature Paris becomes ghost town

With a 354-foot replica of the Eiffel Tower at the centre, the vegetable gardens in the Chinese town of Tianducheng may be the world's most elaborate allotment.
Where greens and radishes grow were supposed to be the beautifully manicured gardens of a development built to be just like Paris.
But those plans were abandoned when developers ran out of money and the garden became overgrown and unsightly. 
Scroll down for video 
A 354-foot replica of the Eiffel Tower stands at the centre of the failed Paris copycat development in the Chinese town of Tianducheng
A 354-foot replica of the Eiffel Tower stands at the centre of the failed Paris copycat development in the Chinese town of Tianducheng
Manicured gardens were supposed to beautify the town but locals have instead created vegetable gardens at the foot of the attraction
Manicured gardens were supposed to beautify the town but locals have instead created vegetable gardens at the foot of the attraction
The few residents who remain in Tianducheng are happy with the gardens say it's better than having weeds taking over the space
The few residents who remain in Tianducheng are happy with the gardens say it's better than having weeds taking over the space
Its one-third scale Eiffel Tower (the real one is 1,063 feet) looks remarkably realistic, but wasn't enough to entice the 10,000 residents developers hoped for. Just 2,000 moved in and local media refer to it as a ghost town.  
With the tower starting to rust and a lift to the top never coming to fruition, the few residents who remain are largely happy about the vegetable plots saying they are more appealing than weeds. 
Tianducheng opened with great fanfare in 2007 but fell substantially short of their 10,000 resident target
Tianducheng opened with great fanfare in 2007 but fell substantially short of their 10,000 resident target
Developers ran out of money and have failed the complete the project, which is now largely farmland and abandoned residential towers
Developers ran out of money and have failed the complete the project, which is now largely ential towers
The developers blame Tianducheng's location for its failure. 
Copycat towns are no new concept in China, with Italian city of Venice recreated in the port city of Dalian in China's north-eastern Liaoning province. 
The World Heritage-listed Austrian Alps village of Hallstatt has also been mimicked in Guangdong province, much to the disapproval of those from the original.

No comments:

Post a Comment