China builds imitation of Austrian heritage village but can't find buyers

London, Jan 30 (ANI): A Chinese developer has recreated Hallstatt, the UNESCO-listed Austrian resort, as a luxury destination for wealthy people in the country.

The Chinese Hallstatt has replicated the original town's 1860 Protestant Christuskirche (Church of our Lord) and its well-tended chalets. There is even an artificial lake to compensate for the original water body.

There are also plans to import horse-drawn carriages and white doves to give the place an authentic feel. The original vegetation of the place has also been cleared to make way for imported trees.

New villas built in the style of a 300-year-old lakeside home are being offered at between 200,000 to 500,000 pounds, which higher than the real thing in Austria.

"You won't find anything like this anywhere else... This is the only genuinely Austrian town in the whole of China," the Daily Mail quoted Xu Kaigin, a salesman for the villas, as saying.

However, the slump in the real estate market in China could make it difficult for the villas to find buyers soon.

According to official statistics, the price of new homes in China fell for the third consecutive month last December, and the annual growth in real-estate investment slowed down to its weakest pace for a year. (ANI)