$170 BILLION worth of Empty Cities, Abandoned Skyscrapers, and Fake European Towns that nobody lives in
Here are China's most Haunting Ghost Cities:
(1/7)
Ordos
A $161 billion ghost city built for 1 million people.
• Currently 90% empty
• Built during the coal mining boom
• Looks like a sci-fi movie set
• Most apartments are owned by investors who never lived there
(2/7)
Jun Ming's Ghost Districts
• Population size of Madrid
• 15 skyscrapers demolished in 2021
• Unfinished since 2013
• Empty kindergartens
• Abandoned hospitals
(3/7)
Tianducheng: "Paris of the East"
• Complete with Eiffel Tower, pairs streets and buildings replica
• Empty Champs-Élysées
• Planned for 10,000 residents
• Current population: 1,000
• Too expensive for locals
• Mostly tourist attractions
(4/7)
Yujiapu: "China's Manhattan"
• $50 billion investment
• Empty skyscrapers
• No rush hour traffic
• Promotional video mocked NYC
• Ironically, it became more deserted than NYC
(5/7)
Thames Town: "Little London"
The Replica of London City
• 330 million us dollars to built the city
• Red phone boxes ✓
• Fish & chip shops ✓
• English pubs ✓
• Victorian architecture ✓
• People? ×
• Another failed replica city
(6/7)
Chenggong: The Student City
• Failed city turned university hub
• 7 colleges moved in
• Busy during term time
• Ghost town in winter
• Gradual transformation
(7/7)
Tonghui Town – the Switzerland of China
• Built to attract tourists
• architectural design taken from the streets and houses in Switzerland and Italy
• The town is not a “town” but a European-style bar street
Why Does China Keep Building?
• Property = safe investment
• Chinese can't invest abroad easily
• Real estate drives economic growth
• Middle-class parks money in empty homes
• Construction = GDP growth
Why This Matters:
• Shows risks of rapid development
• Property bubble warning
• Environmental impact
• Resource waste
• Economic sustainability questions
China's ghost cities represent human history's largest real estate bubble.
Only time will tell whether they become thriving metropolises or remain empty monuments to excess.