Fake tourist destinations around the world – in pictures

The Tianducheng development, in the Chinese city of Hangzhou, is a knock-off version of Paris complete with stylised terraces and a replica of the Eiffel Tower. Built in 2007, the area was designed to accommodate 10,000 people, but has been described as a "ghost town" by local media. There are actually more than 30 duplicates of the Eiffel Tower around the world, with versions in Greece, Romania and Mexico.
Photograph: Aly Song/Reuters

Foamhenge, in the US state of Virginia, is a life-size replica of Stonehenge, made from giant blocks of Styrofoam by sculptor Mark Cline. Stonehenge boasts dozens of copies around the world, including Stonehenge II in Texas. Versions have been made out of a diverse range of materials including cars (Carhenge, Nebraska), refrigerators (Fridgehenge, New Mexico and New Zealand) and bales of straw (Strawhenge, Bavaria). Photograph: Alamy

This full-scale replica of the Parthenon is in Nashville, Tennessee. Built in 1897 as part of the Tennessee Centennial Exposition, the building is currently an art museum. The inspiration for it came in part from Nashville's nickname: "the Athens of the South", which originates from the late 1880s when the town became full of prominent buildings built in the Greek-revival style. Photograph: Alamy

Thames Town, which is situated 30km outside of Shanghai, China, is a replica English town, which features mock-Tudor architecture and quintessentially British shops, such as Costa Coffee and Claire's Accessories. Though sparsely populated, the town proves popular as a backdrop for wedding photographs, with many couples posing in front of a church based on Christ Church in Clifton Down, Bristol, before popping into the local chippy. Photograph: Qilai Shen/Corbis

The Statue of Liberty replica in Odaiba, Tokyo, was erected in 2000 after a temporary version came to the site in 1998 and proved so popular that a permanent one was built. There are other versions of the statue in Shimoda and Osaka, and hundreds more have been counted around the world. Photograph: Alamy

In Las Vegas, the world really does come to you. The Venetian is a luxury hotel and casino resort, which, in the name of good taste, takes its architectural inspiration from the picturesque Italian city. Guests can take gondola rides along the imitation canals and wander over a mock Rialto bridge. Photograph: Alamy

It took 21 years to build the awe-inspiring Taj Mahal. The Bangladesh version, which opened in 2008, was completed in just five. The replica, which is just outside Dhaka, was the brainchild of wealthy Bangladeshi filmmaker Ahsanullah Moni, who blew $56 million on the project to inspire those from his country who are unable to visit the original. At one point, the Indian High Commission threatened to sue Moni for copyright infringement, before deciding his pink-trimmed version was unlikely to dilute visitor numbers to the real thing.
Photograph: Armanaziz, Wikimedia Commons