Chinatown(ish)

[Gob]

China is building a replica Alpine village in a grimy industrial city.




It hopes the chalets in the southern city of Huizhou will be sought after by homesick Europeans.

The village will be a £5.7billion copy of Hallstatt in Austria, complete with artificial lake. Posing as tourists, the Chinese have been photographing every building there for three years.

The plan was discovered when a Chinese guest at Hallstatt’s hotel left behind a bundle of blueprints.

China already has Chengdu British Town, modelled on Dorchester, and Thames Town, near Shanghai.

Publicly, Hallstatters say they are proud that their village has caught the eye of Minmetals Land Ltd. the real estate development arm of China Minmetals Corp., China's largest metals trader.

With most of them dependent on the hundreds of thousands of tourists who overrun Hallstatt's 900 inhabitants each year, they see the project as good for business.

'We're happy they find it beautiful enough to copy,' says souvenir store owner Ingrid Janu.

Hallstatt Mayor Alexander Scheutz describes the plan as 'a compliment to our village,' while hotel owner Monika Wenger thinks at least some Chinese who have seen the copycat version of Hallstatt will want to visit the original.

But in a deeply traditional part of Austria shielded for centuries from much of the rest of the world by towering mountains and steep valleys, the apparent secrecy surrounding the project has also revived suspicions of outsiders, even though Hallstatt survives only because of the millions of tourist dollars spent here every year.

Although the Chinese developers say construction started in April, Scheutz and Wenger say the village knew nothing about the plan to replicate Hallstatt until early this month.

They say a Chinese guest involved in the project and staying at Wenger's hotel spilled the beans - apparently inadvertently - showing Wenger drawings and plans she should have kept to herself of the central marketplace, Wenger's 400-year old hotel and other landmarks that were mirror images of the originals.

'I saw myself confronted with a fait accompli,' says Scheutz of his first reaction when he saw the drawings, now collected in a thick folder on his desk containing documents that he says copy much of the town, down to the individual boards of scenic wooden balconies.

While he disputes local media accounts citing him as furiously vowing to prevent the Chinese project, he acknowledges being 'definitely a bit stunned.'

Wenger is more outspoken. She says most of the villagers she has talked to are 'outraged - not about the fact but the approach.'

'I don't like the idea of knowing that a team was present here for years measuring, and photographing and studying us,' she said Thursday, sitting at her hotel's terrace against the stunning backdrop of Lake Hallstatt, its surface mirroring nearby granite peaks.

'I would have expected them to approach us directly - the whole thing reminds of a bit of Big Brother is watching.

'This house is my personal work of art,' she said of her 400-year-old hotel.

'And then someone comes here and copies it - for me, it's as if a painter copies someone else's artwork.'

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article ... z1PgDsFeyI

[Crackpot]

I did a puzzle of that

[loCAtek]

'Cha, the Japanese have been doing it for decades,since WWII;

[Gob]

An example?

[loCAtek]

Huis Ten Bosch (Holland Village) in Sasebo, Japan



...been there, done that. Didn't disparage others for it.

[Gob]

Where was anyone disparaged?

[loCAtek]

I just said, I didn't disparage others for it.

However, disparaging other's religions is a happy pastime here, 'eh? I thought that was your mission and hobby?

Deny it again, pls, I have a thread topic to post about that denial, which you can prove for me....

[Sean]

In Locanese 'disparage' might well mean to post anything towards her.

Or it may be a type of cake...

[Sean]

Why the fuck are you bringing religion into this thread?

Go on, post your new topic, I could do with a laugh!

[loCAtek]

Uh we're talking abut Chengdu, China dunno why why you're talking abut you?

[Sean]

LMAO - Window licker...

[loCAtek]

You're talking about window-lickers, Okay, that's even more off topic. We were talking about pseudo European villages, FWIW

[Sean]

...until you brought religion into it of course...

[Gob]

Unfortunately Huis Ten Bosh is a theme park/resort rather than a village.

Huis Ten Bosch is a residential-style resort built after a mediaeval 17th century Dutch town.


Palace Huis Ten Bosch, built with special permission from the royal family, is a reproduction of the residence of Her Majesty the Queen of The Netherlands. In English, Huis Ten Bosch means “House in the forest.” And true to its name this residential-style resort has canals running throughout, is surrounded by greenery, forests, amusements, shops, restaurants, five distinct hotels, a marina and residential area.

This spacious 152-hectare resort, roughly the same size as Monaco, is striving to become the top flower resort in the world and flowers in full bloom can be found all throughout the year.

Spring, summer, autumn, and winter, each season transforms this European resort into something completely new.

Question 1:Does Huis Ten Bosch have regular closures?
Huis Ten Bosch is open all year round. However, hours of operation do change during the year, so please make sure to confirm hours before leaving. Please be aware that restaurant, shop, amusement facility, museum, and hotel hours of operation differ from Huis Ten Bosch’s hours. Also, please know that some places in the resort do close or have regular closures.

Question 2:What time does the parking lot open?
The entrance to the parking lot is open from 7:30 until Huis Ten Bosch closes, excluding Golden Week, the Bon Festival, and the New Year’s holidays.

Question 3:What time does the parking lot close?
The parking lot closes at 23:00.

http://english.huistenbosch.co.jp/about_htb/index.html

[Sean]

Another myth busted by the Gobster!

[rubato]

Same idea as a theme park with a slightly different way of making money from it. An immersive experience which is difference from anything in the expected patrons prior direct experiences. No admission fee but you can rent an apartment or spend money in the themed 'gift shops' and restaurants. A cognitive difference too. A theme park has a boundary, a wall, which you pass through into a fantasy world which is experienced as an unreal diversion from real life. This is a part of real life but different. There is no wall and they don't kick you out when the fantasy is over. You can move in and stay and make it your own. More like le Vieux Carré in New Orleans, if it is successful.

yrs,
rubato

[oldr_n_wsr]

No admission fee but you can rent an apartment or spend money in the themed 'gift shops' and restaurants.

And for once the "trinkets" will be made locally (or at least in the same country).

[Gob]

LOL!!