A Chinese property developer called Minmetals Land Inc secretly built a
copy of a picturesque Austrian village called Hallstatt, building it in
Guangdong province, the white-hot center of the Chinese manufacturing
revolution, on a site 60km from Hong Kong. The Austrians are both proud
and miffed, though the argument that ancient designs of buildings, or
characteristic layout of ancient villages are somehow the property of
their temporary residents is a bit odd -- sort of like claiming that
because your town has a gothic cathedral, no one else should be able to
reproduce its centuries-old design without your permission.
(Image: a downsized, cropped thumbnail from a larger picture on Spiegel.de)The original is a centuries-old village of 900 and a UNESCO heritage site that survives on tourism. The copycat is a housing estate that thrives on China's new rich. In a China famous for pirated products, the replica Hallstatt sets a new standard.
The Chinese Hallstatt features a church spire, a town square ringed by pastel-colored buildings and angel statues. They're among architectural flourishes inspired by the original, a centuries-old village of 900.
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