China Pirates Village
- Categories: International, News
- Date: Jun 18, 2011 16:34 JST
- Tags: Austria, Bizarre, Buildings, China, Guandong, Made in China, Plagiarism, Tourism
A Chinese property developer which secretly copied a famously picturesque Austrian village and then began rebuilding it in China is under criticism.
So famed is Austria’s Alpine village of Halstatt (population: 900) for its scenic beauty and rustic architecture that it has been made a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and has also become a major tourist trap.
Such is the village’s popularity amongst easily impressed East Asian tourists, and Chinese ones in particular, that one enterprising Chinese property developer decided to copy the entire village and rebuild it as an upscale housing development and tourist attraction alongside one of China’s famously pristine lakes.
Construction on the Chinese version of the village began in April, in Guandong near Hong Kong’s internal border with China.
The developer describes it as “surrounded by mountains with mountain and lake views,” and built “in a European architectural style, with a commercial street built with the characteristics of an Austrian-style town.”
Visiting press describe the construction site’s surroundings in less optimistic terms: “there was not an alpine peak in sight and the waters of a nearby lake, apparently the faux Lake Hallstatt to be, were green and murky. Instead of mirroring majestic alpine mountaintops, several dead fish floated on the surface.”
In addition to being a physical replica, developers say the site will copy the touristic core of the village down to shops selling “Austrian-style” glass crystal souvenirs.
Interestingly, as well as appealing to rich Chinese, the developers hope the site will be appealing to “Caucasian people living in Hong Kong who are homesick” – most Caucasians of course hailing from Austrian villages.
The actual business of copying the village was secretly accomplished without the knowledge or consent of village residents, and only came to the attention of village residents when a Chinese person working on the project accidentally revealed the scope of the plan.
The developers claim there will be no problems with “so-called intellectual property,” but seem to have taken precautions anyway – the plans to the copy village have all been subjected to mirror-image reversal.
Halstatt’s mayor claims to been “stunned” to learn of the wholesale piracy of an entire village, but as the project was already well underway by the time he learnt of it, he says there was nothing he could do – not that it can be imagined the Chinese would care in any case.
Not all Halstatt’s residents are so diplomatically supine – a local hotel owner whose 400-year-old establishment was copied and is now under construction in faraway China is none too pleased:
“I don’t like the idea of knowing that a team was present here for years measuring, and photographing and studying us. 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. And then someone comes here and copies it, for me, it’s as if a painter copies someone else’s artwork.”
She says most other residents are “outraged, not about the fact but the approach.” However, as there is apparently nothing anyone can do about China, they instead cling to the hope that some visitors to the fake version will be more minded to visit the Austrian original.
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and will it be made of garbage, and fall apart within a month?
or explode? :D
Don't forget the sewage.
For the soup?
maybe in the lake.. that make of sewage..
Yep authentic Saurkraut, made from genuine plastic bags, no expense spared it would seem
In news today: China's pirated village made of garbage fall apart and explodes.
Maybe a little bit of flooding then Goodbye Village of SERF!
Ctrl + C
Ctrl + V
Presto!
Village
You're supposed to "Ctrl + A" first.
Crl + Alt then Delete that's more better than seeing that place... Start over again.
That didn't stop China with the "Blue Screen" non-stop.
earth MKII
I don't want to copy the universe...
you forgot the "Print Screen" then open paint "Ctrl+V"
thats definitely what they do,
and u know what? since they do it that way, it easy for 'alt + f4' to happen too
You forgot to invert it in the middle there.
jajajajjajaja agree
Ok I'm no fan of China but come on. Look at Disney World/Land and Epcot.
Yes but haters feed on stuff like this. Especially the racist ones. The advantage of this is that it helps weed out the hypocrites who visit this site.
Yeah I know, another example is Las Vegas. I mean their imitations are smaller in scale and not full blown like this, but still they're copying iconic tourist spots.
Frankly I'd say The Venetian seems at least 3x the size of the villagge here (and more kitsch; at least the chinese here aren't changing shit, it seems. Which, when you clearly aren't doing anything creative of any value, is probably for the better). The Luxor isn't as big as the real Pyramid?
... anyhow every fucking country have this kind of shit. Hell, look at the Tokyo Tower, which isn't even so bad aesthetically, but ask anyone 40+, they'd say the japs can't do shit and have to xerox someone.
It isn't even a industrial world thing! Look at the romans and their replicas of older ellenistic statues.
I doubt any of the replicas in Las Vegas are close to the size of the originals; and I agree them copying a town (whole or part) is not a big deal, it's been done forever. That's how art starts anyway (you start imitating until you develop your own style).
i hope i was wrong. but it seems. this forum always anti-china. iam not chinese or japanese. i don't know. but what's wrong with you people.
It's not anti-Chinese nor anti-Japanese, it's anti-stupidity... And those countries seem to be introducing us to a special kind of stupidity which sankaku readers like to laugh at.
Anti-Stupidity huh? Let's redefine that to Anti-China and the odd Anti-Japan Stupidity. But that's what this site primarily focuses on. Then again anything that is a Culture Shock does a good enough job to bait in douches. Which of course is a good thing for the admin to see traffic increase.
There are many stupidity from America and Europe, and I mean bucket loads. But of course they will never be covered here for obvious reasons.
Read more; you're wrong.
@Aneko Ok maybe 'never' was not the right choice of word, I know. But you be lying to yourself if you so much as think Sankaku covers Western faults more than Eastern faults.
Oh, actually there are forums of America, Australian stupidity. But Chinese stupidity is just too fun compared to that.
And yes, you prove to be an expample of stupidity by posting. Please be humble and stay here and entertain us clown.
@Anon 17:31
You just proved my point clown. You guys cherry pick China more so than the others. Well done for proving this site loves to single out Asian countries much more. Go cure your stupidity...oh wait I guess you can't.
You seem to keep leaving out the fact that this is an otaku website, a site that revolves its news around Asian countries, so especially as China and Japan. They're pretty important countries that are news goldmines. When was the last time you heard a really outrageous news headlines like these in America? It feels like forever, right? Why do you think everyone who owns a TV in America think the news is boring unless something huge happens?
That said, I will reiterate the fact that this is an otaku website that runs on the news of Asian countries like China and Japan. Why you keep forgetting such a fact, thus your expectations being dashed, is beyond me.
Obvious response from a person who hasn't read SanCom long enough.
As Rakshasa said, regardless of country as long as there's something stupid/funny/weird/interesting enough Sankaku will make a post about it.
@Lariat
Did you miss the fact that I said for 'obvious' reasons. When does being an otaku mean you have to ostrasize other Asians because of some 'OMG' news? So being an otaku has to mean being racist? Which I doubt you are trying to imply. But you can't deny that racism is writhe here against Asians. Chinese in particular.
Outrageous? How? You mean by using double standards as a form of critique? Sorry but this seems to be nothing but social hypocrisy to me if that is so.
Again people need to read my original post and following replies better. I admitted I was wrong with using the word 'never'. Secondly I know what kind of site this is, hence 'obvious reasons', which I assumed the majority knew why. But I guess not since I was called on it for not mentioning this is an otaku site which would of made it that much more easier for those who can't read between the lines to understand. In conclusion nothing I said was wrong apart from exaggerating the never part.
C'mon China Hippies? Again? Seriously Sancom covers the whole world but if you ask me China seems to like the attention with the amount of new Scoops they keep feeding Sancom with.
I mean seriously Copying a Village? My country does a lot of desperate stuff but the only reason we're still not in Sancom is because~
A: People are too lazy here(if not paid a lot)
B: A lot tend to pocket the budget long before the project begins, so there.
China's amazing from exploding water melons to misleading death guide grooves for the blind, China keeps on setting the Idiocy bar higher faster than I can buy blu-rays. X3 C'mon I love China and the stuff it makes!
Especially the time when my T.V. remote broke into 5 pieces the first time it fell from the couch -_-
why australian....they are AUSTRIANS and not AUSTRALIANS, there is no "L" in the word.
Alright then, Anon, since you have missed the entire point of my post, as you similarly claimed me to have done with your posts, I shall spell it out for you. Maybe then, you'll stop looking for little reasons to continue arguing.
This site is a news blog that posts news about Asia a lot, as otaku sites do. Yes, there are stuff from other countries too but come on; what better entertaining news can you get than from Asia? Lots of weird but interesting shit happens there, and the news reports such current events. The point of the news is to report the weird but interesting current events that seems to be abundant in China and Japan because... it's weird but interesting. What's so great about news stories if it's something not worth bringing attention about?
There you go. That's what I meant by 'outrageous' news. Outrageous news as in 'oh wow, another person got shot again because they got into a hissy fit with their boyfriend/girlfriend/best friend/family/whatever' that happens so routinely everyday. Sure it's not something to laugh about, but damn it, that shit gets boring fast when you report it every single day.
So news, so to say like news that 'hey look, someone did something ridiculously stupid yet hilariously interesting in [insert country here], let's go watch', may seem like it's 'cherry-picking' news headlines just to be insulting, but you keep forgetting the facts that 1. as an otaku website, you would have to expect it getting most of its news from Asia anyway, so you can't really blame it if it posts bad stuff about China/Japan/etc. and 2. as I've said, news in Asia is abundant with news like that are 'ridiculously stupid yet hilariously interesting'.
In summary, a news blog centered around Asia is typically going to 'pick' its news from Asia because news from Asia is entertaining, otherwise news is pointless if it doesn't have any readers to catch.
Get it? Get it, get it? *poke poke*
You cant laugh at american stupidity .
You can only cry because their stupidity is ultimate.
On another related note, "China builds lakeside village in a tried and done European style with no visible plagiarism and does not have any building or health code violations by the standards of any industrialized nation" doesn't exactly invoke interest.
No not all China there is also Anti-Australia and Anti-Sweden. China is so FAR THE FUNNIEST AMONG ALL COUNTRY FEATURE IN SANKAKU and yes the STUPIDITIES COUNTRY AFTER the Cooking oil, Soup and Trash Recycle... TEACHING US PEOPLE THAT TO RECYCLE STUPIDITY!!! HAHAHA
I don't know. The last article I laughed at (or rather laughed with) was Shoko-tan Possessed by Zelda. Before that, probably the foreign t-shirt article. Could be months or even last year. I find most articles arousing, thought-provoking or sad. I'm not really digging the "lol that country is stupid" kind of funny.
Being anti-china is like being anti-opressive-dictatorship-that-exploits-and-murders-people-and-has-delusions-of-grandeur...
So where is the problem with that ?
Unless you're a one of them who believes the propaganda :-)
Because of how hypocritical that actually sounds. Propaganda goes both ways might I say.
Propaganda, is that not having a relly good look? [worddplay in use here]
Yeah You're the Man!
SanCom is just full of opportunists. If Artefact goes "Look what the evil Chinese/South-Koreans did now" everybody will hate on China/South-Korea. If he goes "Look at the awesome things the Chinese did now" everybody will love China.
Man, I hated the first part or your post, then suddenly loved the second, weird huh?
So... will China also clone the villagers of Halstatt as well, or are they planning to use plastic surgery on some Chinese farmers to resemble them?
I'll try to be objective here instead of going the typical China bashing spamming here at Sancom.
But serioulsy? "appealing to rich Chinese"?
ProTip: Rich Chinese usually moves OUT of China, cause they got the money. Why bother going to some place fake if they're wealthy enough to visit/move to the real location instead? Country generally welcomes rich people to move there and spend their money anyway.
Also, there are plenty of picturistic old timy Chinese towns around. Many of them too were declared as world heritage sites. Instead of trying to copy something foreign, why not just focus on what they know the best and build up the infrastructure of these already existing town instead? They would surely be better off than 2nd grade knockoffs at least.
Finally, with many undismissible signs of the Chinese housing market going bubblfied. Extra risky (not to mention stupid) ventures like these should be best be avoided.
My guess is they want to give a taste of "foreign culture" to Chinese people who are wealthy enough to travel within China but not wealthy enough to go outside the country.
Not to mention they ensure all money stays inside the country.
Yeah I guess their replica of the building won'nt last long because... China Quality!
I really don't think it matters. Why the outrage over copying a village? Even if they did visit that village just to copy it, who cares? Good ideas and designs spread and this is just proof that someone out there liked the village enough to copy it. I'd be flattered if someone liked my house enough to build a copy.
You haven't been here long I take it? SanCom users outrage at anything. Some users love to target certain things to outrage about. This time it's China so expect to see some users to outrage and bash whenever possible. You'll quickly find the haters and racists.
You two must be Chinese. Because only the Chinese themselves would defend something as ridiculously retarded as this, or China's cheapass piracy culture in its entirety.
Fuck off and go jump off a bridge.
A bridge made out of trash, while you're at it.
@Anon 22:04
You must be an ignorant American, because only Americans come out with stupid logic like this right?....Yeah carry on making the rest of us Westerners look like retarded racists.
/You must be an ignorant American, because only Americans come out with stupid logic like this right?/
The irony. It is delicious.
@Anon 03:10
Clearly you missed the obvious sarcasm. Try again.
maybe they don't wanna hear people talking in this annoying australian accent... Also, most old people in China don't know a word in english
Yes, because Austria and Australia are the same thing... Dumb fuck.
@18:59
Anon used spelling
+1
Epic Fail "Maid" my day
On another note let's not go to discriminating people just because they don't know English that's about as low as one can get along with racism.
I mean Weaboo that I am, I don't mind desperately leaning Jap
@Diemeow23
Wait...are you contradicting yourself?
If you're a weeaboo, then you pretty much enjoy being racist to anyone not Japanese. More specifically the Chinese and Koreans. Yet you talk about not descriminating aginast other people? You lost me...
@1:53
Well I don't know? Just mean me like Japan,like everything Japan(Except Ishihara)and would like to live in Japan(I also know how hard it is there too!) Why in the world would being a Weaboo equal to being racist? Man maybe you just hate the World too much. But as for me and I'm not that smart but I know for a fact I'm not Racist. If that's being contradictory to YOUR dictionary than please feel free to rewrite it THANKS TO ME,MYSELF, and SO HEAVENLY I!
PS. I don't hate CHINESE people but can you blame me if they keep doing S**t like this Pffft hahaha
PSS Koreans never cared really! Why?
@Diemeow23
You call yourself a Weaaboo yet have no idea what it means...Look it up. If you like everything in Japan or anything related you're not a Weeaboo. You're a Japanophile. Weeaboo's only obsess over Anime/Manga and through this medium they believe they know and understand everything Japanese. Being a Weeboo makes you a racist if you bothered to look up what it means. They pride themselves in emulating the Japanese all the way down to hating the same things they do. They think anyone not Japanese is inferior in every sense of the word.
You need to get your terms right.
@21:00
Hmm yes I'll admit I was wrong, and I was exaggerating a bit with my reply, when I said "everything" I didn't mean "everything" I wouldn't go so far as to call myself Japanophile. Just a lot of hate floating around is all it was.
I surrender! X3
Since when do Austrian people talk in Australian accents? I'm sure your accent is much more annoying than any Australian one.
Don't they speak German there?
No its chinese, lol
Kind of, it got some words different but it is basicly like the difference between uk english and us english.
Yes, we do. Although the Germans tend to disagree =)
dude do u even know where austria is?
You touch on a subject regarding China's ingrained copycat mentality that I don't see mentioned quite often enough: I fear all of this may come at the cost of China's own cultural inheritance.
Soon maybe all that will be left of its culture may be old buildings and museum pieces, with a modern day Chinese identity being practically nonexistent (aside from its loathsome, inhumane commercial industry and government).
you don't exactly love one pic for over 20 years so this is expected. they're Chinese after all...