Tianducheng is a residential development north of Hangzhou built as a replica of Paris — complete with a one-third-scale Eiffel Tower, broad Haussmann-style boulevards, and a central garden modelled on the Champs-Élysées. It was intended as an upscale gated community and has become one of the most photographed examples of China's appetite for European architectural mimicry.
The development is more inhabited now than it was in its ghost-town years, but the combination of European facades, Chinese signage, and scattered residents gives it a quietly surreal quality. Wedding photographers come from across Zhejiang to shoot couples in front of the tower. It is about 20 kilometres north of central Hangzhou, reachable by taxi or metro. Worth visiting if you're curious about China's experiments with Western urbanism; skip it if you're looking for authentic culture.