A copycat of The Great Wall in East China’s Jiangxi Province (photo: Weibo)

 Chinese national authorities have vowed to ban counterfeit “cultural relics” and “historical sites” that have emerged across China in recent years.
 
Building copycat versions of cultural relics has become a way for some regional tourist attractions to get attention and attract visitors, but this has misled the public and caused a bad cultural influence, said a notice published on the website of China’s National Cultural Heritage Administration (NCHA).

Shoddy copycats of famous sites such as The Great Wall, The Forbidden City and the Terra-Cotta Warriors are often seen, especially in smaller Chinese cities and towns. There have been more than 10 copycat versions of Beijing landmark Tiananmen in provinces including Shaanxi, Shandong and Jiangsu, news site jiemian.com reported in January.

Many Chinese netizens have complained about the ugly copycats they have encountered on social media. On Twitter-like Weibo, a user shared her unpleasant experience visiting a counterfeit cemetery filled with fake Terra-Cotta Warriors with “awkward clothes” and “heavy make-up.” 

The indiscriminate construction of copycat cultural relics must be curbed to “safeguard the authenticity of cultural relics and the dignity of historical and cultural heritage,” the NCHA notice remarked, adding that regional governments would be required to report and rectify the local copycats.


Global Times