Another Chinese copycat Disneyland castle

China is known for fakes – and even entire theme parks are not safe, if the Disneyland-style castle I saw was anything to go by.

Fake Disneyland being built to the north of the city of Jinan in Hebei province

The best known fake Disneyland-style theme park in China is called WonderlandThe Bohemian Blog has more about it:

Somewhere between Beijing and the Great Wall of China, towering over the Hebei plains and the nearby Chenzhuang Village, there stands a lonely, broken castle. The site was once conceived as a parallel to Disney’s great amusement parks; the dream passed however, and now this gothic tower – no more than a crumbling concrete shell – marks the miscarriage of Asia’s largest theme park.

However the park I saw wasn’t Wonderland – it was demolished in May 2013 a few months before I visited China, and I spotted my park north of the city of Jinan in Hebei province, as I travelled from Shanghai to Beijing by train.

The park I saw was 泉城欧乐堡梦幻世界 – or “Springs European Le Fort Fantasy World” in English.

The park opened to patrons in April 2014, and features 中心天鹅堡 (“Neuschwanstein Castle”) in the middle.

Copycat Disneyland Castle at ’Springs European Le Fort fantasy world’ in China

As well as a copycat version of Barcelona’s Sagrada Familia by the front gate.

Copycat Sagrada Familia at ’Springs European Le Fort fantasy world’ in China

Is there a landmark anywhere in the world that China hasn’t yet built a copy of?

Further reading

Page on Springs European Le Fort fantasy world at Baidu Baike (via Google Translate)

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