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Hallstatt is a housing development in the town Luoyang, Boluo County, China. It is modelled after the Austrian city Hallstatt.
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The area was built by the mining company China Minmetals. The flats in the area are mostly still in construction and are for sale. The center of the area contains a replica of the church, the fountain and various other objects from the original Hallstatt.
Reception in Austria
Hallstatt's mayor Alexander Scheutz first heard about the plans to build a replica of his town in 2011. At that point the construction was already in an advanced state.
While parts of the Hallstatt population viewed the Chinese plans with scepticism mayor Alexander Scheutz said that he saw a chance in the project for the tourism in the "original" Hallstatt. He personally visited the opening ceremony in 2012 and signed an agreement for cultural exchange.
Similar projects in China
The construction of Hallstatt is part of a trend in China to mimic or rebuild other parts of the world. While this is the only example where a whole town layout has been partly replicated, there are many similar places in China. Other examples include a copy of the Eiffel tower in Tianducheng and several copies of European castles in Chongqing.
Many of these copycat cities are housing developments for the wealthier Chinese population.
