Research and Other Investigations from China

Peak Consumption at the New Century Global Centre Goes in Chengdu

The New Century Global Center is the largest building in the world in terms of floor space.

The opening of the New Century Global Centre marked a new pinnacle for temples of consumption in China. Catering to the 14 million constituents of Chengdu, it is the largest building on the planet in terms of floor space and hosts all the necessities for the “modern” and “harmonious” Chinese Dream. The bulky complex boasts apartments, offices, conference rooms, a university complex, luxury malls, a skating rink, an IMAX theatre, and two luxury hotels with “ocean views” of an artificial indoor beach flanked by a faux Mediterranean village. One could potentially live a full life under a single roof especially with a 500ft LCD screen in the water park projecting simulated sunsets. The opening of the complex this past summer was mired in controversy though, as the billionaire behind the project, Deng Hong, is now missing and presumed in police custody. More than fifty other government officials including the mayor of Chengdu were also detained in what appears to be a massive corruption scandal at the heart of one of China’s fastest growing metropolises. Such lavish projects are meant to cater to a rising tide of urban migrants looking to enact lavish consumer lifestyles in China’s rapidly expanding cities, but the New Century Global Centre seems to be another vehicle for the personal enrichment of a select group of businessmen and municipal officials. The management office of the building claims that all the spaces are sold, but it appears to be filling up very slowly. The future of the New Century Global Centre will be an interesting litmus test for similar outsized urban development projects across China.

The Paradise Island Park sits under a massive atrium at the center of the New Century Global Centre in Chengdu.

The Paradise Island Park sits under a massive atrium at the center of the New Century Global Centre in Chengdu.

The Paradise Island Park sits under a massive atrium at the center of the New Century Global Centre in Chengdu.

A Zaha Hadid-designed art center will eventually be built across from the New Century Global Center.

A master model of the New Century Global Center sits on display for in the center's main office.

A massive atrium sits at the center of the New Century Global Center and houses the Paradise Island Waterpark.

The New Century Global Center is the largest building in the world.

The Paradise Island Park sits under a massive atrium at the center of the New Century Global Centre in Chengdu.

The New Century Global Center houses a massive mall with both domestic and international brands.

The Paradise Island Park sits under a massive atrium at the center of the New Century Global Centre in Chengdu.

The Paradise Island Park sits under a massive atrium at the center of the New Century Global Centre in Chengdu.

The Paradise Island Park sits under a massive atrium at the center of the New Century Global Centre in Chengdu.

The Lotte department store in the New Century Global Center contains dioramas and wall paintings for customers to pose with while shopping.

The Lotte department store in the New Century Global Center contains dioramas and wall paintings for customers to pose with while shopping.

The Paradise Island Park sits under a massive atrium at the center of the New Century Global Centre in Chengdu.

The Paradise Island Park sits under a massive atrium at the center of the New Century Global Centre in Chengdu.

The New Century Global Center is the largest building in the world.The New Century Global Center is the largest building in the world in terms of floor space.

A massive atrium sits at the center of the New Century Global Center and houses the Paradise Island Waterpark.

The Paradise Island Park sits under a massive atrium at the center of the New Century Global Centre in Chengdu.

Counterfeit Paradises in the Media

Counterfeit Paradises is seeing a lot of play this year. So far it was featured in Bloomberg Businessweek in the United States, Wired in the United Kingdom, and Sonntagsblick Magazine in Switzerland. A big Stern feature will also show up in Germany sometime in the coming months. More importantly, I am in the midst of speaking to a number of publishers about a Counterfeit Paradises book. Hopefully more details will become apparent in the near future. Otherwise, check out an updated description of the project as well as an expanded cut here.

Given the choice between a good hell and a counterfeit paradise, what will people choose? Whatever you say, many people will believe that a counterfeit paradise has got to be better than a good hell. Though at first they recognize that the paradise is bogus, they either don’t dare or wish to expose it as such. As time passes, they forget that it’s not real and actually begin to defend it, insisting that it’s the only paradise in existence.” – Chan Koonchung

China’s grand development plan continues to grow at an unrelenting pace. It is undoubtedly the largest infrastructure buildout in the history of mankind. However, too much is at stake to slow down such a gargantuan economic force, even as cracks appear in it across the country. Pollution, relentless traffic, and corruption are now a daily part of urban life. Counterfeit Paradises explores these cracks through the “harmonious” cities and sites of leisure emerging throughout China. Such locations are shaping a greater architecture of materialism that gives rise to unsustainable consumer patterns. A billion more people in China cannot live in the same manner as urbanites in American and Europe. The pooled natural resources of the planet could not bear it. For now the Chinese nouveau riche partake in an imagined space of contentment even as reassuring political rhetoric regarding the trappings of their “modern” lifestyles wears thin. This fantasy plays out in many spaces: newfangled municipal districts, communist heritage sites, amusement parks, cultural institutions, and themed luxury residential developments. They all serve to prop up a consumer paradigm that is increasingly important to the short-term economic growth of China but detrimental to its long-term sustainability. The hopes and dreams of many are woven into such spurious ventures, even if in practice many of them remain underused. These fanciful but alienating terrains are the Counterfeit Paradises of China.

Clippings from the Counterfeit Paradises project investigating urban development and leisure habits in China.

Clippings from the Counterfeit Paradises project investigating urban development and leisure habits in China.

Clippings from the Counterfeit Paradises project investigating urban development and leisure habits in China.

Clippings from the Counterfeit Paradises project investigating urban development and leisure habits in China.

Clippings from the Counterfeit Paradises project investigating urban development and leisure habits in China.

Clippings from the Counterfeit Paradises project investigating urban development and leisure habits in China.

Clippings from the Counterfeit Paradises project investigating urban development and leisure habits in China.

Counterfeit Paradises: Minsk World Aircraft Carrier Theme Park

Tourists pose in front of the Minsk World aircraft carrier theme park.

Chinese nationalism continues to peak with the country’s emerging status as a world power, even if its military technology remains decades behind other nations. In 2012 the People’s Liberation Army christened its first aircraft carrier, the Liaoning, which in actuality is a retrofitted Soviet aircraft carrier, the Varyag. Right now the Liaoning is still years away from being fully operational. It was only recently that a Chinese-manufactured J-15 fighter jet successfully landed on and took off from the aircraft carrier. In open battle the Liaoning would be a large, rather useless, sitting target, but symbolically it is still very potent. Such ex-Soviet aircraft carriers also see other uses in China, including the Minsk, which is now part of the Minsk World military theme park near Shenzhen. Here Chinese patrons can wander exhibits extolling the prowess of the People’s Liberation Army and indulge in other martial fantasies. It is the perfect place to fantasize about China’s future military potential, especially with all the saber rattling occurring over the Diaoyu Islands.

A couple poses for wedding photographs on the deck of the Minsk World aircraft carrier theme park.

An attendent walks off the Minsk World aircraft carrier theme park.

Tourists inspect the deck of the Minsk World aircraft carrier theme park.

A tourist poses in front of a fake naval backdrop in a hold on the Minsk World aircraft carrier theme park.

An attendent takes a nap in the cafe at the Minsk World aircraft carrier theme park.

Old military aircraft pepper the deck of the Minsk World aircraft carrier theme park.

A stage set up on the deck of the Minsk World aircraft carrier theme park.

Highrises stand along the shoreline across from the Minsk World aircraft carrier theme park.

Counterfeit Paradises in GEO France

Counterfeit Paradise debuts in GEO France - Chateau Montaigne

My Counterfeit Paradises series made made a strong appearance in GEO France this summer. Fourteen pages of shanzhai awesomeness. The magazine commissioned me to shoot all of my favorite ersatz European developments around China. This is only part of the Counterfeit Paradises oeuvre as China’s grand development strategies continue to spread at an unrelenting pace. The series explores the cracks in “harmonious” cities coming into being throughout China, as well as sites of leisure and luxury now enjoyed by the urban elite. This nouveau riche partake in an imagined space of contentment and growth even as a gap widens between the promising rhetoric espoused by municipal governments regarding urban planning and actual implementation. This fantastical future plays out in many spaces including newfangled urban districts, cultural institutions, amusement parks, and themed residential developments. In practice, many remain underused, fanciful but alien terrains. Most of the hopes and dreams woven into this urban fabric remain false in nature. These are only a smattering of the many Counterfeit Paradises in China.

Counterfeit Paradise debuts in GEO France - Tianducheng
Counterfeit Paradise debuts in GEO France - Florentia Village
Counterfeit Paradise debuts in GEO France - Little Holland
Counterfeit Paradise debuts in GEO France - Thames Town
Counterfeit Paradise debuts in GEO France - Weimar Town
Counterfeit Paradise debuts in GEO France - Broad Corporate Campus

Red China Rising: Bourgeoisie Tourism in the Communist Heartland

A Mao Zedong effigy sits in front of a backdrop of his former home for tourist photos in Shaoshan, the birthplace of Mao Zedong and CCP pilgrimage site

This is the second of a series of posts detailing the bourgeois practices of nouveau-riche, communist-heritage pilgrims who possess expectations and consumer desires that seem at odd with the core ideologies of the founding fathers of the Chinese Revolution. Armed with cash and a new sense of leisure, most of these fledgling tourists first make their way to Shaoshan/韶山, the birthplace of Mao Zedong. A slew of “red” products and trinkets are available around every corner even in the face of sincere reverence for founding Chinese Communist Party leaders that borderlines on idolization. Elderly tourists kowtow to statues of Mao Zedong while company retreats sing “red” songs and pledge oaths. These blind followers make easy prey for egregious tourist traps such as the Shao Yue Palace Maoist Family History Show, where attendants usher punters into Mao Zedong veneration halls, hand out lucky ornaments, ask them to bow to a Mao Zedong statue three times and then try to charge them for the “blessed” ornaments. Some estimate the value of the entire “red” industry at $1.5 billion dollars and Mao Zedong’s hometown is at the epicenter. Also check out the last post in the series on “The Defense of Yan’an” reenactment.

A company tourist group pays reverence to Mao Zedong by bowing before his large statue near his former home in Shaoshan, the birthplace of Mao Zedong and CCP pilgrimage site

Busts of Mao Zedong stand outside a "red" product store in Shaoshan, the birthplace of Mao Zedong and CCP pilgrimage siteTourists line up to enter Mao Zedong's former home while others take photos outside in Shaoshan, the birthplace of Mao Zedong and CCP pilgrimage siteStatues of Mao Zedong sit inside a "red" product store in Shaoshan, the birthplace of Mao Zedong and CCP pilgrimage site

Attendants at the "Shao Yue Palace Maoist Family History Show" tout "red" products to tourists before ushering them into Mao Zedong veneration halls in Shaoshan, the birthplace of Mao Zedong and CCP pilgrimage siteTourists have been coming to Shaoshan, the birthplace of Mao Zedong and CCP pilgrimage site, for almost fifty yearsA "red" product vendor sits at her stall near Mao Zedong's former home in Shaoshan, the birthplace of Mao Zedong and CCP pilgrimage site

An advertisement to have your photo taken in traditional CCP soldier garb in Shaoshan, the birthplace of Mao Zedong and CCP pilgrimage siteA Mao Zedong effigy for tourist photos in Shaoshan, the birthplace of Mao Zedong and CCP pilgrimage siteRecreations of Mao Zedong's calligraphy for sale in Shaoshan, the birthplace of Mao Zedong and CCP pilgrimage site

Tourists wait in a long line outside of Mao Zedong's former home while a tour guide in a pink jumpsuit talks on her cellphone in Shaoshan, the birthplace of Mao Zedong and CCP pilgrimage siteMao Zedong literature line the stalls near his former home in Shaoshan, the birthplace of Mao Zedong and CCP pilgrimage siteA child poses in front of Mao Zedong's former home in Shaoshan, the birthplace of Mao Zedong and CCP pilgrimage site