ABSTRACT
The spectacular urbanization of contemporary China has generated immense popular and journalistic interest in “Chinese architectural copying.” This chapter examines the wide range of architecture and urban developments in China which have been derided as instances of architectural copying by the American news media, and situates them within the longer history of stylistic imitation and emulation in the Western architectural tradition. It questions the ways in which this tradition has been radically changed by the introduction of architectural copyright law in the United States, while situating these Chinese architectural and urban spaces within the broader consumer phenomena of lifestyle and ubiquitous photography.
