Venice of the East in Dalian, the capital of Liaoning Province, is emerging as one of the hottest tourist destinations./ Source form Xinhua News Agency

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By Hong Soon-do, Beijing correspondent, AsiaToday - We've known the Chinese to imitate almost everything, from clothing to even hi-tech stealth aircrafts. So it doesn't seem tough for China to copy even entire foreign cities. A replica version of Venice in China's northeastern city of Dalian opened in December 2014, is emerging as one of the popular tourist destinations, garnering attention.

Chinese state-run outlets including Cankaoxiaoxi reported on Monday that the fake Venice was built with water released from a dam of Donggang in Dalian. At first, Dalian just set up a four-kilometer canal. Then various ideas poured out as a country of copycat experts. There were soon many voices asserting that buildings should be set up as the waterway was built just like Venice's. The water city project was then given to a renowned French company. In addition, the city made a brave decision of investing a whopping 5 billion yuan into the project. As a result, the European-scented city was set up in just two years.

Initially, the project received much criticism from the media. Many have criticized for not being innovative and investing 5 billion yuan to make an imitation. As a result, some officials in the city of Dalian even stepped down from their positions.

However, things have completely changed now. The replica city of Venice, although being fake, is enjoying tremendous popularity among Chinese as well as foreigners. It is also attracting many newlyweds and tourists. It's also bringing in a good income. Dalian estimates the economic effect of the fake Venice amounts to more than one billion yuan a year. If it's true, than it requires five years to meet its expense.

Of course, being a fake is a fatal weakness. However, considering China's pragmatic lines of thought, the fake Venice will soon become one of the hottest tourist destinations in Dalian.