A look alike of London's Tower Bridge is seen in Suzhou, Jiangsu province, China.
The town features cobbled streets, a medieval meeting hall – even a statue of Winston Churchill – and was a popular spot for wedding photos.

But none stood out more than a two-floor lakeside imitation of the White House, which has been the presidential home since John Adams and his wife Abigail moved there in November 1800. "If the owners didn't have connections, they wouldn't dare build these illegal constructions would they?"

Another recalled seeing an imitation White House in Jiangsu province. The office building of the People's Court of Jiangyin, Wuxi city, East China's Jiangsu province, Dec 3, 2012. Government workers, armed with sledgehammers, reduced Shaoxing's answer to James Hoban's Washington DC icon to a heap of rubble. In 2013, the BBC visited “Thames Town”, an imitation English town in Songjiang in Shanghai.

The guidelines on “foreign” architecture were mostly welcomed on Chinese social media.

Thailand also has developments that mimic the Italian countryside and charming English villages, mainly aimed at domestic tourists. License for publishing multimedia online 0108263             Registration Number: 130349, Obama to host Romney at White House on Thursday, Obama pardons Thanksgiving Turkey at White House, Tibetans take train home after pilgrimage or travelling, World's largest shaftless Ferris wheel built in China, Ancient cities to be connected by Xi'an-Chengdu high-speed railway, FTZ simplifies process to launch businesses, Low wages and lack of respect responsible for kindergarten abuse, experts say, Liu heralds UK partnership in education and research, UN envoy's trip to DPRK praised by Beijing, China moves to secure natural gas supply amid rising winter demand, Xi asks China, Canada to work for substantial ties, Cooperation necessary for success, leaders say, Living in space: How astronauts train, eat and work, Cancer agent found in 44 cities' drinking water, China lose 2-0 to Uzbekistan in World Cup qualifier, coach Gao resigns, C919 gains another 55 orders, lifting total orders to 785, Fintech to energize real economy, cut risks, China's Long March rockets complete 60 commercial launches, Online shopping rings up customer complaints, SME mobile market platform receives first clients, Air China opens direct route from Beijing to Barcelona, Dandelion helping to sow the seeds of stability for members, Villagers call on Japan to atone for massacre, Ex-diplomat: Philippines must forgo provocations, China's defense ministry confirms drill in South China Sea, Li: Piraeus to become 'top-level' gateway, 14 new satellites in orbit will help warn of disasters, Second Yangtze warning issued on flooding peak, Anti-corruption battle set to be intensified, Premier Li visits people in flood-potential area, In cartoons: Highlights of Premier’s work in first half of year, Solo paleobiology graduate becomes online hit, Heartwarming stories during China's floods, Chinese NGO explores new mode of AIDS prevention education, British man dies in Hangzhou, donating organs to 6 Chinese.
“It burned my eyes,” she said.

A wealthy Chinese homeowner has seen his own personal White House reduced to a pile of rubble after authorities decided the lavish construction had violated planning regulations. Torrential rains cause widespread flooding, Reaching for the future: China's scientific achievements. Another recalled seeing an imitation White House in Jiangsu province.

A look alike of London's Tower Bridge is seen in Suzhou, Jiangsu province, China.

It was built in 2012, but only attracted global attention when new photos were released last month. In 2013, the BBC visited “Thames Town”, an imitation English town in Songjiang in Shanghai. A government statement says “plagiarising, imitating, and copycatting” designs is prohibited in new public facilities. However, in late March a local television station paid the more than four million square foot compound a visit, following complaints about rampant illegal construction. All rights reserved. The town features cobbled streets, a medieval meeting hall – even a statue of Winston Churchill – and was a popular spot for wedding photos.

“The ban is great,” wrote a Weibo user, according to state media the Global Times. The White House-inspired villa had been built at the heart of a tree-lined residential compound in Shaoxing, Zhejiang province that is reportedly popular … var oTime = new Date(); "It is useless. . Copyright 1995 - It calls for a “new era” of architecture to “strengthen cultural confidence, show the city’s features, exhibit the contemporary spirit, and display the Chinese characteristics”. REUTERS/Stringer We and our partners use cookies on this site to improve our service, perform analytics, personalize advertising, measure advertising performance, and remember website preferences. The statement says buildings “reveal a city’s culture” – and that “large, foreign, and weird” designs should be limited. “Usually if you want to see foreign buildings, you have to go abroad,” said one person. More eerily, perhaps, a full-scale, no-expense-spared replica of the White House stands outside Hangzhou, while less exacting copies of the U.S. … China is finally taking moves to shut out copycat architecture, and will crack down on replicas of international buildings and styles. Note: Browsers with 1024*768 or higher resolution are suggested for this site. “It’s much better to protect our historical architectures than build fake copycat ones.”. Construction on the White House of Shaoxing appears to have started last year, more than two centuries after work began on its American inspiration in 1792. Photographs of the wrecked building distributed on Wednesday by Chinese state media showed a place which now closer resembled Haiti's National Palace, destroyed by the 2010 earthquake.