A town that was built to resemble a charming British is found on the opposite side of the world - a staggering 5,700 miles to be exact. Based in and known as Thames Town, it was created in a bid to attract both tourists and British expats with the aim that it would help stimulate property development.

The unusual town was created by British architecture writer Jonathan Glancey who described the set up as being a "grotesque and extremely funny parody of an olde English town seen through Chinese eyes, and built by canny British developers". Despite its notable quirkiness and its £530 million investment, the town has failed to attract the footfall it expected and remains largely a ghost town today - despite it completely resembling what a "postcard perfect" village in England looks like.

The UK has long been a popular holiday spot among Chinese visitors.

According to The Telegraph, the Chinese are more inclined to visit the UK in a quest to "enjoy the beauty of the landscape", "feel connected to nature" and "have fun and laughter".

So much so, Thames Town was created in the Songjiang District, which is roughly 19 miles from central Shanghai.

In Thames Town, the set up occupies an area of less than a square mile and was designed for a population of 10,000 in mind.

The area is filled with all things British, resembling an English town including a church, a fish and chip shop, Tudor buildings and of course, an English-style pub.

Thamest Town features a cornucopia of cobbled streets, quaint coffee shops and the quintessential British item of red telephone boxes.

Most of Thames Town architecture was inspired from buildings found in England, such as its church which is based on the Christ Church in Clifton Down in Bristol.

The buildings serve no purpose at Thames Town but are rather there for aesthetic reasons and to act as props.

Initially, Thames Town was popular among Brit-loving locals with a number of tourists coming to explore this quirky spot to get their "British fix".

Despite lasting for 25 years since it was first unveiled, Thames Town has been unsuccessful in attracting a host of tourists it initially thought it would with soaring house prices owing to much of the project's failure.

Brit Photographer Paul Reiffer, 39, visited the town and said: "If you were blindfolded and dropped here, you would have no idea you were in Shanghai.

"The place is exactly like an English town - it's designed very well - but it puts you in a weird headspace."