London, Aug 9 (IANS) Real estate developers in China are now copying Tudor buildings, cobbled streets and even red telephone boxes and artificial rivers in an attempt to recreate the British way of life.

Thames Town, about 30 km from Shanghai, opened in 2006 as a replica of a small town in Britain, the Daily Mail reported.

The builders even created an artificial river to replicate the Thames.

I wanted the properties to look exactly the same as those in Britain. I think English properties are very special, said James Ho, head of one of the companies behind the development, Shanghai Hengde Real Estate.

However, the development designed to house 10,000 people has not proved to be popular.

Reports said the place only attracts tourists wishing to take pictures of its British-style architecture.

In a similar attempt, an identical version of London's Tower Bridge has been built in Suzhou city in the eastern Chinese province of Jiangsu, while a replica of an Austrian village has been built in the southern city of Huizhou.