English Town

The building company Hong Kong Housing has built a new suburb in Shanghai. But this suburb is different from other parts of Shanghai, a city which has a population of about 15 million. It is a little piece of England. They chose “English Town” as the name of the new area. The manager of Hong Kong Housing, Shi Guangsheng, says many people in this area of China want to buy an English house and live in an English town like the English would do.

“This town is like Bristol or Chester. There is an English square and there are pigeons to feed like in Trafalgar Square, London. There are four English-style cafes and you can buy English tea to drink. There is a canal and you can row a boat there like in Cambridge. Take the train from one side of the town to the other and look around you. You can’t tell the difference because it is exactly like the London Underground. Sign posts, trains, even the tiles we used in stations are the same.” Are there any cricket fields? “No, there aren’t any places to play cricket because nobody in Shanghai can play this game. But there is a football stadium like those in England. And the thing we are very proud of is our shopping street. There are several shops where you can buy traditional English food like fish and chips or Christmas pudding.”

The rich Shanghai businessman can do some gardening too. For with every house in “English Town”, there is an English lawn and there are long gardens with ponds and tall hedges. “We even offer the residents assistance while designing their gardens in the English style”, adds Shi Guangsheng, “Last year we organized a gardening competition. You should have seen the beauty of the gardens that participated!”