The following correction was printed in the Guardian's Corrections and clarifications column, Friday 13 August 2010

The headline to this story described Cadaqués – the town in Catalonia, Spain, of which a replica may be built on a bit of Chinese coast – as the home town of Salvador Dalí. That was Figueras.

As home to the painter Salvador Dalí and inspiration for some of his greatest and strangest artistic endeavours, the Costa Brava fishing port of Cadaqués is used to the surreal.

But the latest project involving the north-eastern Spanish town has astonished even the cosmopolitan inhabitants of a place that boasts more art galleries per square kilometre than anywhere else in the country.

A Chinese developer has decided to build a replica of the town half-way across the globe in Xiamen Bay, where mainland China looks out towards Taiwan.

Architects from developers China Merchants Zhangzhou visited Cadaqués in June, taking measurements, photographing buildings and worrying about whether Chinese fire engines would fit down its tiny streets.

Sources at the company said they had found a spot that was geographically similar to Cadaqués, with its gently sloping hills and protected bay. "Building work will start in September or October," a spokesman said.

More than 100 acres of land will be used to build a near replica with a capacity to house some 15,000 Chinese holidaymakers who want to enjoy the Costa Brava experience without having to travel 6,500 miles.

The Chinese version will not have the sparkling Mediterranean, the madness-inducing Tramontana wind or as many jellyfish as Cadaqués, but the promoters say they will try to get as close to possible to the real thing.

"We will recreate the essence of the fishing town and will reproduce the most characteristic elements of the architecture in a space which has a similar coastline," one of the architects, Hu Zheng, told the Spanish newspaper La Vanguardia .

That will mean copying the narrow streets and the white-painted buildings that look out across the perfect, open-mouthed bay where small, brightly painted fishing craft bob up and down.

The promoters of the Chinese resort have decided they can improve a bit on the original, however, and will be adding an artificial island.

Among other buildings the architects were keen to see were the warren-like collection of fishermen's cottages in neighbouring Portlligat, where Dalí lived. Topped with a giant egg sculpture, this is where the Spanish surrealist painted many of his most famous works – including a portrait of his Russian wife Gala looking out to sea. It is also where he indulged his fondness for voyeurism, encouraging selected guests to perform sex acts in front of him.

Visitors to the house today are greeted by the same stuffed, wild bear with which Dalí tried to frighten away unwanted guests.

The Chinese developers told officials in Cadaqués that they also wanted to make art a central part of the new town, with space for galleries and offers to some local Spanish artists to show their work there.

"We like the idea and the way they are treating us," said Joan Borrell, mayor of Cadaqués. "We are small but well-known. If they want to imitate you then it means you must have got something right."

Borrell said he hoped the Xiamen version would eventually attract Chinese tourists to the real thing. "As with a work of art, seeing the copy often makes you want to see the original," he said. "That would be wonderful for Cadaqués and for the whole of the Costa Brava."

This is the second attempt to build a replica of the fishing town somewhere else in the world. A previous attempt was made at a Caribbean beach in the Dominican Republic, but Cadaqués says it was not consulted and does not recognise it as a genuine imitation.

China Merchants Zhangzhou declined to comment officially on the project, though sources at the company confirmed that the project was still on track.

Dalí would undoubtedly have approved of the endeavour. One of his favourite money-making habits was to sign, and sell-off, blank sheets of paper for prints and lithographs. As a result, he is one of the most frequently copied and forged artists in the world.

Made in China

Shanghai has built a version of Paris on its doorstep, complete with a scaled-down replica of the Eiffel Tower. The development has full-sized houses and boulevards and was designed to house up to 100,000 people.

Thomas Hardy's vision of Dorchester inspired Chinese town planners to build a replica of the English village for wealthy Chinese families in Chengdu, central China. Eager buyers flocked to the development, which is called "British Town".

A Himalayan town was used by the Chinese to create a tourist version of Shangri-la. The project was inspired by English writer James Hilton's 1933 novel Lost Horizon where he describes Shangri-la as an imaginary Himalayan utopia. The "new" Shangri-la was declared a tourist paradise by order of the Chinese government.

A Chinese businessman drew up plans for a lasting tribute to singer Michael Jackson by building his own Neverland ranch on an island near Shanghai. The cost was expected to be about $15m and the site would include a man-made lake, cinema and a zoo.

Jason Rodrigues