This picture taken on Aug. 7, 2013 shows a replica of the Eiffel Tower in Tianducheng, a luxury real estate development located in Hangzhou, east China's Zhejiang province. (STR/AFP/Getty Images)

The lush gardens, clear fountains, and slope-roofed apartment buildings are all reminiscent of a western European city. Add a central plaza called "Champs Elysees" and the towering spire of the Eiffel Tower, and you'll think you've found yourself in Paris. But this is Tianducheng, a Chinese city thousands of miles away from the place it modeled itself off of, and far quieter these days than Paris.

Development for the French-style city began in 2007 in a rural area not far from Shanghai, says Business Insider. But for all its beauty, Chinese people seem more likely to visit the original French capital than moving to a replica of it in their own country. The luxury development is only 20 to 30 percent occupied, whereas the number of Chinese tourists to travel to France increased 23 percent from 2011 to 2012, reported CNN.

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The fact that Tianducheng is a replica city does nothing to detract from its appeal. According to The Atlantic, "The Chinese tradition of duplication as power and control goes back to the Qing dynasty and earlier, and permeates modern Chinese culture." If copying is the sincerest form of flattery, the Chinese are simply proving how much they admire the wealth and architecture of Europe.

Tianducheng's emptiness could in part be explained by its location, says the Huffington Post, since it's too far from public transportation and other big cities. Whatever the reason for its lack of occupants, Tianducheng is hardly the first newly-built city to turn into a ghost town. There are plenty of others around the country that lack the attractions of big cities like Shanghai and Beijing, reported the Wall Street Journal, and it's impossible to predict the fate of these eerie cities. To go on a tour of Tianducheng, check out the slideshow above.

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