To understand why, how, and to what end China was appropriating historical Western architecture, Bosker traveled to these themed developments and met with the house-proud people living in them, as well as the architects, officials, developers, designers, real-estate agents, and groundskeepers.

The suburbs are teeming with courthouses and government offices inspired by the White House or U.S. Capitol—two of China's most-frequently copied buildings. Some have been financed by private developers. But the Chinese Communist Party has bankrolled their fair share.

"The state has historically had a fickle relationship with the country's rich and their displays of wealth, and just recently banned advertisements for luxury gifts in an austerity push," Bosker says. "Isolated, distinctive, and lavish, these expansive copycat communities could easily come under attack by officials or China's poor, many of whom have been left behind in China's economic 'miracle.' Perhaps because of these tensions, the 'haves,' in turn, have segregated themselves from the 'have-nots' behind layers of security cameras, guards and gates." (Though, of course, the same could be said of many of America's richest communities.)

Entering these themed cities, Bosker explains, visitors have the feeling of leaving China altogether. In Shanghai's Thames Town, she found the straight streets and hulking high-rises typical of most Chinese developments replaced by meandering paths, cobblestone roads, and squat, low-density brick buildings.

"Honking horns and rumbling trucks gave way to birds chirping and an eerie quiet that's rare in a crowded country of 1.3 billion," Bosker says. 'The careful landscaping—manicured lawns, lots of trees, potted flowers—ensure even the air smelled different. The security staff wore the red uniforms of Buckingham Palace guards; streets had names like 'Chelsea Lane'; and the Chinese eateries were outnumbered by western pubs, wine shops, and cafes. And just like in the West, there was at least one car in every drive."

The marketers of these communities peddle a lifestyle associated with "courtly living" in the "land of aristocracy." This seemingly presents a contradiction, Bosker points out: "China has emerged from several decades of strict communist rule that sought to eliminate socio-economic classes altogether, only to embrace styles and symbols from periods in European history when class distinctions at their most institutionalized."

Property developers ensure their buildings are true to the original by importing the architecture, building materials, and architects from abroad. Or at least they try, Bosker says: "In Shanghai's San Carlos development, for example, a real estate agent assured me the French Baroque style of the buildings had been designed by a French actually working in France (I later met the designer: He was Chinese, but had traveled to France on several occasions)."