35 Mysterious Abandoned Places Around the World You Can Still Visit

30. Tianducheng, China: A Replica of Paris in Decay

Originally designed as a luxury development mimicking Paris, complete with its own Eiffel Tower replica, Tianducheng was built in the early 2000s to attract wealthy residents outside Hangzhou. But the dream faltered. With only a few hundred residents scattered across a city designed for thousands, the grand boulevards, fountains, and faux-Haussmann buildings fell into eerie stillness. Dubbed a “ghost city,” Tianducheng embodies the strange intersection of ambition, imitation, and disillusionment in China’s rapid urban expansion. Though recent years have seen a slight uptick in occupancy, the area still evokes the emptiness of a mirage wrapped in European architecture.