Thames Town — Local services in Shanghai

I’m British and I have a passing interest in urban architecture so I thought it would be interesting to visit this novel area to see how this supposed modal of a quaint British town would look.

In some ways it actually felt a little strange feeling, seeing these vague reimagining of old style British buildings and streets, but everything feeling empty and abandoned made it feel a little ghostly.

I was also hoping to see a few European style cafes and even maybe a British style pub to grab a pint, which would have added to the novelty, but sadly I couldn’t see anything that would match the theme.

It was still an interesting visit although it did take almost two hours from the centre of Shanghai taking the subway and then walking from the station.

In reality Themes Town was originally created as a residential project, not as a tourist attraction, but I think they can definitely lean more into the latter by embracing the novelty and it could become a more fun...

Somewhat run-down now. The weathering and natural ageing and so on suits some of the houses, particularly an enclosed garden in the centre.

Other parts, not so much. The huge church is covered in scaffolding and what looks like hessian, and a little fountain in front of it is falling to bits. Many trees aren't doing well and streets of them are propped up with metal rods, lest they fall over.

Given the distance and lack of shopping - looks like the pub is long gone - I wouldn't bother, unless you are very curious about this kind of cultural phenomenon & have a lot of time.

Thames Town is VERY far out on the metro, and there's a 15 minute tram...

I don't know where to start. At some point this was maybe a good idea but then hardly anyone moved in and those who did moved out because no commerce got started and then the weeds and wedding photography studios took over. I feel sorry for anybody like me who thought they could grab a pint in a proper local pub. I was trying the door for far too long before it dawned on me there is nobody home in Thames Town. It should be rebranded as a huge...