Discussion on:

China builds $940m carbon copy of Austrian town

China likes to copy other peoples creations.

This one is pretty cool. http://www.strategypage.com/htmw/htnavai/articles/20061229.aspx

Talk about your big fish in a small pond.

This really isn't about innovation or a lack thereof. This is about Romanticism and the commercialism of it.

Romanticism never goes out of fashion -- just look at Leavenworth, WA, Helen, GA or Frankenmuth, MI.

Some Japanese anime mix in romanticized old Europe -- most of Hayao Miyazaki's movies incorporate European themes.

All of Las Vegas is covered with romanticism, from Cesar's Palace to the Bellagio, the Venetian to Paris Las Vegas. Think of all the tourists who rode the gondolas in the Venetian.

People love to romanticize the past and other cultures.

this is the same sort of exoticism and romaticised nostalgia that led US millionaires to disassemble European castles stone by stone and import them to the US - the only difference being that nobody then found it necessary to comment upon the effect these practices might have on the US reputation for innovation. Speaking of which, Andrew, you might want to consider sending the Chinese thoughts of gratitude - in lieu of royalties - every time you make use of a Chinese innovation and wipe yourself after visiting the toilet....

Henri

Bet the population would have preferred they just got on and finished Disneyland Shanghai - currently under construction.