This Sunday, Sara, Anna and I took a trip to Thames Town. We took Line 9 all the way to the terminal station and popped in a cab. It took more than an hour to reach this magical destination. Thames Town lies on the outskirts of Shanghai, a place built for no real purpose other than to exist. I'm sure its planners' dreams were of a mini-English town filled with Chinese and foreigners mingling happily (as they cashed in on their great idea), but that's not really how it seems to be going down.
The doorman has a nice outfit. I'm curious about the deer.
The place is effectively empty of any permanent residents, though it is a town square surrounded by hundreds of homes in tidy neighborhoods. The British theme is fairly consistent, especially in the main square area. The homes look like most Chinese stand-alone housing neighborhoods: large, ostentatious, surrounded by hedges and styled like European villas.
Exhibit A:
Lovely pomelo tree out front.
It's like being in suburban America, only quieter and eerier. It feels so out of place, but I guess if I worked at one of the industrial plants in the outskirts, it may be a nice place to live. You would need to have a car (just like America!) and it would be a bit lonely because it is so unoccupied. As a young single person, it was just fun to wander and wonder, but I have no serious dreams of ever moving to a fabricated community in China. As we walked by the empty homes, we heard children playing. It was Americans: a brother and sister shouting and calling for their mom. It was surreal to hear such a suburban activity after months away from the States.
Despite the strangeness of it all, there were many fun things to see and do, and we had plenty of room to explore. There were maybe four other foreigners in the area and not too many locals either.
When pigs fly...
The empty and picturesque town is a great place to take photos, so we chanced upon many couples taking their wedding snapshots in full regalia. There were also people taking glamor shots and artsy photos all over the place. In one area, an entire crew was setting up and shooting an advertisement. They had fake snow, a fake KFC sign, a beautiful pale-faced actress and extras. There was also a pair of caffeinated and picky directors yelling at everyone. That was fun to watch!
Decked-out model.
Is this China?
The lovely village even had a church, which seems to only be for photo purposes. We went on Sunday and the lack of religious activity was evident, though I did get a nice Chinese pamphlet about Jesus Christ.
Cathedral.
It didn't seem too sacred, so I took a flash-less photo.
The place is filled with statues of famous British people. Sara tried to find them all.
Isaac Newton, we think (it's all unlabeled).
Yeah buddy!
Winston!
Lastly, we stumbled across the museum, which housed all sorts of interesting displays. Most of it was related to the development of the outer cities of Shanghai, like Songjiang University Town and the Songjiang Development area. The models were extensive and beautiful, though I can't help thinking that China really just needs less of these artificially planned "zones". They need to focus on cleaning up some of the other things first, then move on to actual new creations.
I love missiles. So does China.
Lol, creepy mannequins in a modern home display.
So all in all it was a good time. I want to go back to the peaceful parks and paint. It was good to be out of the city and in a weird but scenic place. We were quite lucky to have such awesome weather. Next time, a picnic will be in order because the place has very few functioning restaurants or eateries. Because it is empty. Dead, really. Bizarre, in fact.
Nice, well-kept parks.
Parting shot, the most famous Briton of all...
Harry Potter!
ellen
random thought. i think this area may have been on house hunters international. just in case you wanted to know :)
ReplyDelete