South China Morning Post
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A woman takes pictures with her mobile phone of a building, half of which is a replica of the US capitol building and the other half Beijing’s Temple of Heaven at a theme park in Hebei province. Photo: Reuters
China

Chinese theme park’s ‘one of a kind’ attraction inspired by half of US Capitol building

Circular three-storey building at Hubei province park built so that half of it copies iconic Washington landmark and the other part Beijing’s Hall of Prayer

Andrea Chen
Why you can trust SCMP

China’s reputation for copying things seems to know no bounds after one of the most iconic landmarks in America - the United States Capitol Building - appeared in a mainland theme park. Well, at least half of it.

Read more: Venice of the East? Replica of canal city latest architectural fake to be built in China

A number of Chinese theme parks have built large replicas of iconic buildings from around the world, but this one - described as “one of a kind” - may well be one of the most bizarre.

The half-and-half building is described by the Hebei provincial government as ‘one of a kind’. Photo: Reuters
The conically roofed three-storey circular building at film and television show theme park in suburban Shijiazhuang, in Hebei province is described as a seamless “fusion” of the Washington’s Capitol - the US legislature, and Beijing’s Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests at the Temple of Heaven world heritage site.
The interior of the theme-park replica building in China’s Hubei province. Photo: Reuters
The top of the attraction in China’s Hubei province, which appears to have been built by sticking two halves of different buildings together. Photo: Reuters
Half of the building is the Capitol and the other half the Hall of Prayer.
A replica of the Sphinx is seen through a door of the newly constructed attraction at the Shijiazhuang theme park in Hebei province. Photo: Reuters
It has joined the Louvre Pyramid replica and the fake Sphinx as a “new highlight” at the park, the provincial capital’s official weibo reported on Tuesday.

Read more: The power of Louvre: replica Paris pyramid joins fake Sphinx in Chinese theme park

One side of the building looks like the US Capitol building ... Photo: Reuters
... and the other half Beijing’s Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests at the Temple of Heaven. Photo: Reuters
The local government described the building as “one of a kind” because it features both “Western and Chinese architectural elements”, but fell short of naming the Western landmark that the mainland architect chose to copy.

The park has already made international headlines after Egyptian Antiquities Minister Mohamed Ibrahim said last year that the copycat Sphinx had “harmed the cultural heritage of Egypt”.

Despite of the complaints, the park has remained open to the public.

Entry costs 10 yuan (HK$12), with an additional fee of !0 yuan to go inside the mainland Sphinx,, according to the ticket office at the park gate.

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