This is 99% invisible. I'm Roman Mars.

The best knockoffs in the world are in China.

Sure, designer handbags and Rolexes, but also really large-scale imitations.

Like fake Apple stores that are so dead on that employees of the store think they're working in a real Apple store.

But beyond just working in knockoffs, many residents of Chinese suburbs live their lives in replica cities.

Vennices with complete canals and replicas of the Doge's Palace, parisets with rifle towers and arc to tree alps.

They're Chrysler buildings, Sydney Opera houses.

Driving through the suburbs of any city in China, you will find a plethora of fake Versailles,

British developments, and California is all bumping upside by side.

Just Shanghai itself has ten cities all built in the architectural style of different European countries.

So it's possible to travel from Germany to Italy to London in the course of a few hours.

Provided there's not too much traffic.

Bianca Boscher is the author of the book, Original Copies,

Architectural mimicry in contemporary China, and she coined a term for these buildings.

Dupletector.

Dupletector refers to this nationwide movement taking place in China,

whereby people are copying entire cities and towns from Europe and the United States.

Life-size, or sometimes even bigger than life-size.

These are not theme parks. Dupletector developments are actually living breathing communities,

where Chinese families are raising their children,

living out their lives in a place that looks like Orange County or Paris,

but is smack dab in the middle of the People's Republic.

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