China creates duplicate of I.M. Pei's Louvre Pyramid in Shijiazhuang

by Tom Anstey | 07 Sep 2015

The replica Louvre sits in an overgrown field of the unique amusement park

After drawing the ire of the Egyptian government when it created a replica sphinx last year, a Chinese theme park in Shijiazhuang has added to its collection, creating a 1:1 replica version of Paris’ Louvre Pyramid.

Not sharing quite the same iconic locale, the replica Louvre Pyramid – the original of which first opened in 1989 – sits in the overgrown field of the unique amusement park/movie set in Shijiazhuang, Hebei province.

Originally designed by Chinese architect I.M. Pei, the like-for-like replica of the iconic Parisian structure now sits to the left of the fake Sphinx, while a clone of Beijing's ancient Temple of Heaven is being developed on the building’s right.

When the replica sphinx was unveiled last year, government officials from Cairo lambasted the recreation, with Antiquities minister Mohamed Ibrahim claiming the copycat “harmed the cultural heritage of Egypt”.

The fake Louvre seems to have prompted a similar reaction online, with many blaming the ‘duplitecture culture’ – architectural replicas of tourist areas and attractions around the world – of the country, which has previously gone as far as to recreate entire international communities for tourists to visit.