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China's Latest Ghost Town: A $50 Billion Fake Replica Of Manhattan

Tyler Durden's picture




 

"They are building stuff that nobody really wants or needs... and there will be a day of reckoning" sums up yet another mega ghost city project under development in China. As NBC News reports, China's $50-billion knock-off of the Big Apple - near the port city of Tianjin, some 120 miles from Beijing - complete with its own Rockefeller Center and Twin Towers has been billed as the world's largest financial center in the making. But this Manhattan still has a long way to go...

Ian Williams explains nothing has improved in China since we last highlighted the ghost city phenomenon...

 

As NBC News reports,

China's $50-billion knock-off of the Big Apple sits on a river bend — much like its namesake — near the port city of Tianjin, some 120 miles from Beijing. Complete with its own Rockefeller Center and Twin Towers, it's been billed as the world's largest financial center in the making. But this Manhattan still has a long way to go.

 

A recent visit shows that construction that began in 2008 on the back of a massive credit boom unleashed in China after the global financial crisis appears to have ground to a halt. While the stunted version of “Rockefeller Center” and its Twin Towers appeared to be complete — both were empty and fenced off.

 

"It’s the financial crisis. The impact is big," said one man on the site who preferred not to be identified but said he worked for a transportation company. "I think there are still working on a building over there," he added, pointing down a wide and empty highway, strewn with litter.

 

...

 

It was scheduled for completion in 2019, offering 164 million square feet of office space over an area larger than Manhattan's financial district in a bid to stimulate development of vast residential districts nearby.

 

"They are building stuff that nobody really wants or needs — and there will come a day of reckoning," explained Gillem Tulloch, a Hong Kong-based analyst and managing director of GMT Research who has studied the growth of China's "ghost cities" across the country.

 

...

 

"Our leading economists in the West were lauding the Soviet-style system from the 1950s up until the 1980s," he said. "They were all wrong. I think it’s the same with China."

*  *  *

 

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Tue, 11/11/2014 - 20:56 | 5438669 Liberty2012
Liberty2012's picture

Words ? The ultimate bubble ? Building unwanted buildings - that is something I never thought I would see.

Tue, 11/11/2014 - 21:02 | 5438707 TeamDepends
TeamDepends's picture

You don't build a city for nothing. The Bankster maggots have focused their psychotic eyes on China for obvious reasons. Agenda 21 will force country folk into the city where they can be observed and tazed easier.

Tue, 11/11/2014 - 21:12 | 5438734 TahoeBilly2012
TahoeBilly2012's picture

That's just fucking creepy. Add the "fake New York" to my list of "never plan to see" along with the real New York and Las Vegas. 

Tue, 11/11/2014 - 21:17 | 5438757 ACP
ACP's picture

On the upside, that place would make for the world's most epic paintball game.

Tue, 11/11/2014 - 21:36 | 5438785 OW My Balls
OW My Balls's picture

It won't be considered 'REALISTIC' until they pack it with whiny ass jews

Tue, 11/11/2014 - 21:57 | 5438891 Publicus
Publicus's picture

Preparations for World War 3.

Tue, 11/11/2014 - 22:04 | 5438917 Mr Poopra
Mr Poopra's picture

Precisely.  To think the Chinese are stupid enough to build these cities without a purpose is laughable.  They are planning for a quick transition after the inevitable war due to the collapse of the paper game.

Tue, 11/11/2014 - 22:12 | 5438931 General Decline
General Decline's picture

Twin tower replicas? Fly a couple jets into them and see if they fall down.

Tue, 11/11/2014 - 22:19 | 5438951 mvsjcl
mvsjcl's picture

I proudly give you +1

Wed, 11/12/2014 - 00:03 | 5439199 zerozulu
zerozulu's picture

This might be sincere effort to get rid of confetti dollars before it goes worthless. I will definitely do that if I have cash in the bank and convert it into real assets. IMHO

Wed, 11/12/2014 - 08:25 | 5439613 kaiserhoff
kaiserhoff's picture

The trash looks authentic.

Tue, 11/11/2014 - 22:28 | 5438973 Mr Pink
Mr Pink's picture

I'm gonna go out on a limb and say that they won't collapse.....and these are probably made of cheap plastic

Tue, 11/11/2014 - 22:50 | 5439020 TruthInSunshine
TruthInSunshine's picture

Fake Plastic Trees and all that.

Krugmanomics in action to extend the Ponzi. Next stop - When Mars
Attacks.

Wed, 11/12/2014 - 00:30 | 5439252 Never One Roach
Never One Roach's picture

They can build a high speed rail and a big fancy skyscraper city … yet you still cannot safely drink the tap water or eat much of their food wthout getting deathly ill.

 

 

Freeden might call it, “Paradoxical!”

Wed, 11/12/2014 - 01:43 | 5439337 Freddie
Freddie's picture

Are you talking about California?  Yeah - I agree.  

Jerry Brown wants high speed rail and the place is bathed in Fuki water now.

Wed, 11/12/2014 - 02:54 | 5439406 benb
benb's picture

Agenda 21 cities is a good call but let's not forget the possibility that major portions of Japan may/will? be evacuated when the Fukishima catastrophe accelerates. Call it a long shot but these Ghost Cities may have been built for that purpose all along.

Wed, 11/12/2014 - 08:06 | 5439591 StychoKiller
StychoKiller's picture

I don't believe that the Chinese are that fond of the Japanese!

Wed, 11/12/2014 - 03:14 | 5439416 roddy6667
roddy6667's picture

I've been living here (China) two years and have never gotten sick from the food. Can't say that about American food.
BTW, before you get up on your high horse, just a reminder. The citizens of China's big cities, like Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen, etc, live longer than Americans.

Fri, 11/14/2014 - 04:22 | 5447517 kareninca
kareninca's picture

You believe Chinese government longevity stats?  Boy are you gullible.

Wed, 11/12/2014 - 06:47 | 5439531 Not Goldman Sachs
Not Goldman Sachs's picture

Even this article is fake...brought to you by the Ministry of Truth.

Tue, 11/11/2014 - 23:04 | 5439072 MontgomeryScott
MontgomeryScott's picture

Complete with Twin Towers replicas, and the melted steel running down the channel rails, and the empty gold vault under WTC6, and they hired Jane Standley from the BBC who performs every day at 5PM, announcing the collapse of the Solomon Brothers Building (which can be seen standing behind her).

God help them if they ever have a simple office fire!

Wed, 11/12/2014 - 00:04 | 5439201 zerozulu
zerozulu's picture

where they are planing to stop their Manhattan? 97th street, 125th or all the way to bronks?

Wed, 11/12/2014 - 09:54 | 5439801 TruthHunter
TruthHunter's picture

Give them a little time, they'll fall down without any planes

 

If they are built to same  the standard as most chinese crap I don't expect them to last.

Wed, 11/12/2014 - 09:52 | 5439841 Civilizedworm
Civilizedworm's picture

I've always dreamed about becoming a miluti billionaire for this exact reason. I would build an exact replica of the twin towers and crash some boings into them and see what happens, put the matter to bed.

Wed, 11/12/2014 - 11:19 | 5440161 Defiated
Defiated's picture

Gee, would those replicas look like the real ones 1 yr after a 'suitcase nuke' gets detonated in downtown Manhattan?

Wed, 11/12/2014 - 04:15 | 5439450 ebear
ebear's picture

Right.  In an all out war, no one would think to target empty cities, since all they could be used for is as a place to retreat and regroup.

 

Tue, 11/11/2014 - 21:29 | 5438798 NoDebt
NoDebt's picture

I was thinking more along the lines of Deathrace 2000.

Tue, 11/11/2014 - 22:14 | 5438939 hobopants
hobopants's picture

Why the hell not? They rip off everything else.

Wed, 11/12/2014 - 01:45 | 5439340 Freddie
Freddie's picture

Escape From NYC with Snake Pliskin and Adrianne Barbeau's hoots.

http://www.submachinegirls.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/cleavage-galle...

Tue, 11/11/2014 - 22:17 | 5438945 MalteseFalcon
MalteseFalcon's picture

Silly Chinese with their empty cities, yellow skin, slanty eyes and Three Gorges dam.

However, just curious, what is the US building?  What is our ever-so-practical $50 billion project?

The Chinese have surplus to waste.  The US are debtors working on a $17 trillion project.

Tue, 11/11/2014 - 22:29 | 5438956 hobopants
hobopants's picture

Going billions in to debt in order to build something useless has nothing to do with surplus, malinvestment should never be something to look up to. It's wasted capital. This is sad for the Chinese people because their government basically fucked them over with bad policy, just like ours has.

Tue, 11/11/2014 - 23:16 | 5439103 TheReplacement
TheReplacement's picture

They have no surplus.  They printed debt at an even higher rate than us ($23T).  They have a half finished city to show for it.  We have repainted bridges.  Woohoo!

Wed, 11/12/2014 - 03:05 | 5439412 owensdrillin
owensdrillin's picture

So they basically printed money on the same program as the US per capita. I can't believe canada doesn't get on the same page. I can imagine if my province got six billion per year out of thin air.

Tue, 11/11/2014 - 21:32 | 5438819 logicalman
logicalman's picture

Maybe it's just the set for a remake of Escape from New York!

 

Tue, 11/11/2014 - 23:53 | 5439170 bobthecat
bobthecat's picture

Why would one never want to see New York?

Tue, 11/11/2014 - 23:54 | 5439171 bobthecat
bobthecat's picture

Why would one never want to see New York?

Wed, 11/12/2014 - 06:49 | 5439532 Not Goldman Sachs
Not Goldman Sachs's picture

The people. 

Tue, 11/11/2014 - 21:12 | 5438739 sullymandias
sullymandias's picture

do they have an empty replica WTC7 as well?

Tue, 11/11/2014 - 21:20 | 5438768 McCormick No. 9
McCormick No. 9's picture

May they all mysteriously free fall into their own footprint.

Tue, 11/11/2014 - 21:34 | 5438825 ZerOhead
ZerOhead's picture

After Larry buys them and acquires insurance from the Russians and Iranians...

Tue, 11/11/2014 - 22:44 | 5439005 Flagit
Flagit's picture

 

"? ?"

Wed, 11/12/2014 - 01:51 | 5439347 Freddie
Freddie's picture

I bet their NY Fed has that sulphur smell plus no gold in the basement like the NY Fed. 

The connecting tunnel to the former JP Morgan vault also has no gold.

Tue, 11/11/2014 - 21:25 | 5438777 Cacete de Ouro
Cacete de Ouro's picture

It collapsed in on itself about 20 minutes after BBC China reported that it had collapsed, but the feed went dead just before the collapse

Tue, 11/11/2014 - 22:14 | 5438904 Dubaibanker
Dubaibanker's picture

Over 100m people (that is a combined population of California, Texas, NY and Florida) need to be moved over the coming 6 years from rural areas to these empty buildings. This is the main reason why these 'ghost' cities have been built. A couple of years of emptiness is better than several years of traffic congestion, uncontrolled urban expansion etc (but only if you can afford it and actually care for your citizens, which is an alien concept in Western countries where capitalism for the rich turns into socialism for the rich at every loss making point).

China initiates migration of 100m farmers into cities
Tue, 11/11/2014 - 22:50 | 5439027 effendi
effendi's picture

Do they really NEED to move those 100 million? Even if they do it won't fill even half the 70 million empty apartments. Average Chines house size is just under 3 people, so that fills less than half the existing excess stock. 

They are also building another million or so new apartments each month that are excess to demand. If they stop the construction they take away 100 million or so jobs (construction workers, steel mills, cement factories, transport workers etc etc) and 16% of GDP.

So if they continue with the malinvestment they will be fucked and if they stop malinvestment they will be fucked.

Tue, 11/11/2014 - 23:43 | 5439135 Dubaibanker
Dubaibanker's picture

I don't believe someone with USD 4 trillion can make too much of losses with real estate because they have a lot more maneouverability.

However, do you have any source for 70m empty apartments? That seems like a lot in an over populated country.

Also, many of 'cities' have malls and other commercial real estate too.

We all have been awaiting an 'imminent' collapse of China (all coming from biased western media) but 10 years is a very long time awaiting a collapse.

I await some source of the 70m or anything close to that number...

Even delivering 1m apartments per month seems excessive....but that is more likely because the demand in larger cities like Shanghai and Beijing etc is simply crazy. 

Shanghai and Beijing both are estimated to reach 50m each by 2050. http://worldpopulationreview.com/world-cities/shanghai-population/

Shanghai alone has gone from 16m in 2000 to 23m today and imagining 50m by 2050 .....I really don't know what to say for this scale of growth because it has never happened on this planet ever before?

And remember they are creating millionaires faster than anyone else ever.

Just last month they created 10,000 millionaires in one go when Alibaba went public...in Hangzhou. Just in Hangzhou the population has quadrupled since 2000 from 2.5m to about 10m today and they just created these fellows who are buying everything in sight! Greater Hangzhou area has close to 21m population in the area.

Here is a brilliant article that suggests that just a mid size city like Hangzhou is equal in population to London or Paris yet continues to grow amid green spaces and is an IT hub and generating millionaires and billionaires and is simply unknown outside of China. http://www.citinature.org/city-livability-blog/hangzhou-china-exuberantl...

Just Hangzhou is expected to have more millionaires than LA in the near future. http://blogs.wsj.com/chinarealtime/2014/03/06/in-10-years-hangzhou-will-...

And yes, they really need to move another 7% of their population to urban settings because they too are industrializing and have no need for so much rural/agri labour.

You should really see this from nytimes which is a fascinating article: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/16/world/asia/chinas-great-uprooting-movi...

Tue, 11/11/2014 - 23:35 | 5439144 laomei
laomei's picture

lol, they are not moving these people, these people come of their own accord and once demand starts up in an area it explodes... if you don't plan it out in advance it gets fucked.

Wed, 11/12/2014 - 01:48 | 5439345 Freddie
Freddie's picture

They need to move them to steal the land and bring on factory farms with GMO and MonSatan.

Tue, 11/11/2014 - 23:54 | 5439173 roddy6667
roddy6667's picture

It is better to build in advance so that people are not living in tents or under highway oveerpasses. China has a plan. What does America have?

Tue, 11/11/2014 - 21:45 | 5438865 msmith9962
msmith9962's picture

Will it have a subray?

Wed, 11/12/2014 - 08:57 | 5439686 Mitch Comestein
Mitch Comestein's picture

I will take a building.  I have $7 in my wallet.  I would move the fam there.  We could film zombie movies.

Tue, 11/11/2014 - 20:53 | 5438675 spekulatn
spekulatn's picture

Raoul on the CNBS show today,

 

http://video.cnbc.com/gallery/?video=3000329483

Tue, 11/11/2014 - 21:14 | 5438740 kaiserhoff
kaiserhoff's picture

They let him talk.  Amazing.

He makes some good points on who is in deep doo doo.

Wed, 11/12/2014 - 01:58 | 5439358 AbbeBrel
AbbeBrel's picture

Wow - CNBS has been upgraded (at least this one time) to CNBR - R for "Rationality". Thanks for posting this link - it was amazingly Rational.

Tue, 11/11/2014 - 20:55 | 5438676 Seasmoke
Seasmoke's picture

Where is China Town ??

Tue, 11/11/2014 - 20:56 | 5438681 kaiserhoff
kaiserhoff's picture

No Harlem?

Tue, 11/11/2014 - 21:29 | 5438803 Frank N. Beans
Frank N. Beans's picture

"Forget it, Jake; it's Chinatown"

Tue, 11/11/2014 - 20:56 | 5438678 kaiserhoff
kaiserhoff's picture

Soviet Central Planning...

At least they didn't clone Gary, Indiana.

Tue, 11/11/2014 - 20:56 | 5438684 Evil Bugeyes
Evil Bugeyes's picture

I wonder if it will be complete with lots of rats and a large soda ban...

Tue, 11/11/2014 - 21:16 | 5438748 didthatreallyhappen
didthatreallyhappen's picture

also, no guns permitted, no knives, only dildos

Tue, 11/11/2014 - 21:25 | 5438788 Cacete de Ouro
Cacete de Ouro's picture

Is there a Lloyd Blankfein penthouse?

Wed, 11/12/2014 - 01:09 | 5439308 DriveByLurker
DriveByLurker's picture

It's not an accurate copy until they get the stale urine smell just right.

Wed, 11/12/2014 - 01:56 | 5439357 Freddie
Freddie's picture

The nice thing about this New York is that it is much further away from New Jersey.

Tue, 11/11/2014 - 20:59 | 5438688 Bangalore Equit...
Bangalore Equity Trader's picture

Listen

Do you know how cheap concrete is in China?

Basic Concrete = portland cement, sand, aggregate.

http://www.alibaba.com/trade/search?fsb=y&IndexArea=product_en&CatId=&Se...

http://www.alibaba.com/trade/search?fsb=y&IndexArea=product_en&CatId=&Se...

No Biggie...

Tue, 11/11/2014 - 21:09 | 5438725 Ness.
Ness.'s picture

They'll have endless amounts of concrete.  As soon as they demolish all of the unoccupied buildings.  

Tue, 11/11/2014 - 21:16 | 5438750 Bangalore Equit...
Bangalore Equity Trader's picture

Listen.

Maybe you don't get it. Once Greater Israel is built and finished the FED will for certain close it's doors and America "WILL" turn into Haiti overnight.

Most educated Americans will choose to move to China to get far away the "DUEL" passport holders(Jewish folks who caused the extinction of America).

China is building for "YOU". The soon to be displaced Americans.

Tue, 11/11/2014 - 21:33 | 5438820 TeamDepends
TeamDepends's picture

See, that's where you are wrong Monkey Boy. We know our Constitution. We know our INALIENABLE rights. We are armed and ready to go. Bring it......

Tue, 11/11/2014 - 21:38 | 5438842 Bangalore Equit...
Bangalore Equity Trader's picture

Listen Diaper.

Your going to shoot the Federal Reserve building after the dollar crashes and is non-recoverable, and the Fed gives up and moves back to Israel?

I hope the ricochet misses you.

Tue, 11/11/2014 - 23:30 | 5439117 MontgomeryScott
MontgomeryScott's picture

I really hate this, Bangalore.

I hate to agree with you.

Unfortunately, you might be correct (in a partiality) of your statement.

Personally, I'd pick the Federal Reserve Bank of New York as the first target (but there are 11 others, not including the one in the foreign-held territory known as the District of Columbia).

The banksters came from EASTERN EUROPE, you know, and they are heavily invested in the FAR EAST now. Khazarim and Ashkenazim, you know. Do you want to see the latest improvements in the technology stolen from the West?

http://investmentwatchblog.com/what-chinas-newest-fighter-jet-looks-like/

The USD WILL crash, and will not be recoverable. I agree. (UNLESS...)

EDIT

I can't help it!

Your 'avatar pic', is that a family portrait? Is that YOU giving the dog a bone?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Rsz6adwyKU

 

Tue, 11/11/2014 - 21:47 | 5438846 OW My Balls
OW My Balls's picture

No shit TD...

 

When they build an Appalachian Trail replica and some functional moonshine stills I'll start getting interested.

On a side note: I can't say, anymore, that the concept of 'INALIENABLE RIGHTS' exists anymore, but I assure you of one thing... The first motherfucker that crosses my perimeter will get a dose of the echo of what it used to mean to myself & some others...

Other than that ~ I'm a peaceful man.

 

Tue, 11/11/2014 - 22:32 | 5438990 Clever Name
Clever Name's picture

Hmmm...

 

Who DOES that?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Tue, 11/11/2014 - 23:32 | 5439087 MontgomeryScott
MontgomeryScott's picture

http://www.gunbot.net/

PLUS ONE for the downarrowing!

Come out, come out, wherever you are...

 

Tue, 11/11/2014 - 20:59 | 5438691 Stained Class
Stained Class's picture
This is beyond absurd, if it is true. If its not? What is NBC trying to do? REALIZE THAT BANKERS, BROKERS, ALL SKIM THEIR PROFITS FROM ONE SIDE OR THE OTHER FROM A BUSINESS TRANSACTION, and you will know they are just like sharks- they can't stay alive unless they are moving. No ebb & flow? They die. They will die in China, they have died before they even got there.
Tue, 11/11/2014 - 20:58 | 5438696 williambanzai7
williambanzai7's picture

No banksters...

Tue, 11/11/2014 - 21:02 | 5438709 Stained Class
Stained Class's picture

Only ghosts.... Fuld, Cayne, O'Neill, Merriwether, Weill, Summers, Hubbard,  .....and all their minions.

I think I saw Buffet in one picture though, in the background....

Wed, 11/12/2014 - 01:51 | 5439350 Freddie
Freddie's picture

You mean ghouls not ghosts. 

ghoul ?o?ol/ noun plural noun: ghouls
  1. an evil spirit or phantom, especially one supposed to rob graves and feed on dead bodies.
    • a person morbidly interested in death or disaster.
Tue, 11/11/2014 - 21:03 | 5438710 kaiserhoff
kaiserhoff's picture

I covet the burned pretzel concession.

Tue, 11/11/2014 - 21:15 | 5438697 JustObserving
JustObserving's picture

Maybe they can use this fine city to make "Escape from New York - the sequel".  A Chinese Snake Plissken could be considered if Kurt Russell is busy. The movie would serve as a worldwide advertisement of this replica of America's unhappiest city.  Who would not want to move there? 

Worse comes to worse, they can always make it into a giant prison. The enhanced mortality in that prison and lower costs will surely be  superb selling points. Not to mention, enhanced organ harvesting.

Wed, 11/12/2014 - 01:52 | 5439353 Freddie
Freddie's picture

Get a Chinese woman with nice hoots like Adrainne Barbeau.

Tue, 11/11/2014 - 21:01 | 5438701 kowalli
kowalli's picture

The most funny thing - that they will sell it at the end at least, it's not a paper...

Tue, 11/11/2014 - 21:28 | 5438783 MarsInScorpio
MarsInScorpio's picture

They will not be able to sell it before it decays. No residents means no money or labor for maintenance.

Who besides me remembers the China Hustlers on ZH relentlessly touting the "China Miracle," citing what we can see in these pictures is a ghost GDP to match the Ghost Cities?

Wed, 11/12/2014 - 04:38 | 5439460 ebear
ebear's picture

"They will not be able to sell it before it decays."

Nothing there to decay.  Those buildings are empty shells.  No interior fixtures - that comes later at the buyer's expense, including connections to water and electric.

These cities are massive employment projects, similar to what the US did during the Depression.  China has an imbalance of males to females due to the one child policy.  The army can only absorb so many - the rest become construction workers, and after people move in, tradesmen and service personnel.  At least that's the idea.

Will it work?   Who knows, but they're obviously intent on trying.

Tue, 11/11/2014 - 21:37 | 5438838 MarkD
MarkD's picture

They do build some awesome structures. Asia makes the US look like amateurs.

Marina Bay Sands in Singapore....... http://www.marinabaysands.com/sands-skypark/infinity-pool.html ........ seriously?

How can we compete? Asia has won, we are losing.

Wed, 11/12/2014 - 04:56 | 5439466 ebear
ebear's picture

 

"They do build some awesome structures. Asia makes the US look like amateurs."

Marina Bay Sands was an American project.   Read up:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marina_Bay_Sands

a lot of the architecture in Asia is actually done by western companies.

one example:

http://www.bharchitects.com/en/china

Wed, 11/12/2014 - 08:28 | 5439622 MarkD
MarkD's picture

But we are too busy building malls to fill them with Asian products for our mall zombies

Tue, 11/11/2014 - 21:00 | 5438703 cartonero
cartonero's picture

At least those Twin Towers will be easy to collapse into their own footprints ...

Tue, 11/11/2014 - 21:05 | 5438714 Ness.
Ness.'s picture

At least they got the garbage on the streets part right.  

Tue, 11/11/2014 - 21:26 | 5438764 JustObserving
JustObserving's picture

For true authenticity, they should get some genuine NY vermin:

A new study has found that New York City’s rats are hosts to at least 18 new viruses, never before encountered and unknown to science. There is a risk of a “a public health nightmare.”

And New York Cops to do illegal 1800 stop-and-frisks every day


Tue, 11/11/2014 - 22:16 | 5438940 franciscopendergrass
franciscopendergrass's picture

Maybe this was the set for the movie "I am Legend" with Will Smith.  Insert deserted cars, zombies and overgrown vegetation

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ewpYq9rgg3w

Tue, 11/11/2014 - 21:09 | 5438721 pragmatic hobo
pragmatic hobo's picture

oh, i'm sure everything will be juuuuust fine .

Tue, 11/11/2014 - 21:11 | 5438729 WTFUD
WTFUD's picture

Should have waited another few months and bought the real thing

Tue, 11/11/2014 - 21:11 | 5438732 richiebaby
richiebaby's picture

target practice for their nukes?

Tue, 11/11/2014 - 21:13 | 5438736 Usura
Usura's picture

These empty cities might find some use after the bombs fall.

Tue, 11/11/2014 - 21:13 | 5438742 didthatreallyhappen
didthatreallyhappen's picture

maybe the walking dead series can continue filming over there

Wed, 11/12/2014 - 03:01 | 5439409 taggaroonie
taggaroonie's picture

That's what I was thinking. And there's $2.50 worth of irony in the fact that brain-dead Keynesian walkers created the place.

Tue, 11/11/2014 - 21:15 | 5438743 youngman
youngman's picture

They need to learn the English word for demand...somhow they have screwed that one up...

Tue, 11/11/2014 - 21:33 | 5438821 Frank N. Beans
Frank N. Beans's picture

do their replica banks have real gold in their underground vaults??

Tue, 11/11/2014 - 22:12 | 5438933 Bennie Noakes
Bennie Noakes's picture

Do New York banks have real gold in their underground vaults??

Tue, 11/11/2014 - 21:35 | 5438834 FeralSerf
FeralSerf's picture

"They are building stuff that nobody really wants or needs... and there will be a day of reckoning"

I thought they were referring to GM.

Tue, 11/11/2014 - 21:38 | 5438848 djsmps
djsmps's picture

Did they also build those little carts that are on every corner in mid-town that sell meat on a stick.

Tue, 11/11/2014 - 21:40 | 5438851 Yen Cross
Yen Cross's picture

  Looks like a good place to film an alien invasion or Godzilla movie. :-)

Tue, 11/11/2014 - 21:44 | 5438863 Notsobadwlad
Notsobadwlad's picture

The only question that matters. Are all of the cities being built at elevations above 700ft?

Tue, 11/11/2014 - 21:46 | 5438866 oncefired
oncefired's picture

China has to build Ghost Cities or we are going to see one hell of a China Spring

Tue, 11/11/2014 - 21:46 | 5438869 Counterfiat
Counterfiat's picture

Movie set for the apocalypse. Dorrar a day to film the day of horror.

Tue, 11/11/2014 - 21:53 | 5438880 Downtoolong
Downtoolong's picture

If you want to make God laugh, tell him your plans.

If you want to piss God off, show him your plans.

If you want to experience God’s wrath with suffering, agony, punishment, loss, and unimaginable humiliation, make it a Central Plan.

Tue, 11/11/2014 - 21:57 | 5438895 joemayo
joemayo's picture

$50 Billion and the Chinese got something tangible in return?  Amateurs.

Nobody does "Brewster's Trillions" like the USA:

More money for the Pentagon, CBS News Correspondent Vince Gonzales reports, while its own auditors admit the military cannot account for 25 percent of what it spends.

"According to some estimates we cannot track $2.3 trillion in transactions," Rumsfeld admitted.

$2.3 trillion — that's $8,000 for every man, woman and child in America. To understand how the Pentagon can lose track of trillions, consider the case of one military accountant who tried to find out what happened to a mere $300 million.

"We know it's gone. But we don't know what they spent it on," said Jim Minnery, Defense Finance and Accounting Service.

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/the-war-on-waste/

Tue, 11/11/2014 - 23:04 | 5439073 Flagit
Flagit's picture

 

Nobody does "Brewster's Trillions" like the USA:

 

"As I said: Reggie pitches and I catch. The money won't change us." - B. Obama

Wed, 11/12/2014 - 08:39 | 5439639 StychoKiller
StychoKiller's picture

.
.
D(eep)
U(nderground)
M(ilitary)
B(ases)

Tue, 11/11/2014 - 22:10 | 5438930 bugs_
bugs_'s picture

When our New York gets blowed up they will have the only New York! (we must not allow a new york gap!)

Tue, 11/11/2014 - 22:13 | 5438938 zerohedgejjxxzz12
zerohedgejjxxzz12's picture

They are going to move their people into these buildings and start a ponzi scheme like the US, having their people sit at home with EBT cards watching the Amerkans work for nothing to produce the goods and services that the Chinese need.

 

Tue, 11/11/2014 - 22:37 | 5439002 q99x2
q99x2's picture

The litter looks just like NYC.

Maybe it is for after the nukes go off.

Tue, 11/11/2014 - 22:41 | 5439008 AdvancingTime
AdvancingTime's picture

A big reason dropping house prices in China is so important is that is where almost 75% of household wealth is stored. Here in America a much larger share of household wealth, approximately 71% is stored in financial instruments. The end of the housing bubble in China has the potential to become a huge deflationary "house of cards." 

The country is already suffering from massive overcapacity. Much of the recent growth in China after 2008 came from a massive 6.6 trillion dollar stimulus program that expanded credit and poured massive amounts of money into the system. This money encouraged expansion and construction with little regard as to real demand or need.

For years the people of China have had the habit of saving much of what they earn but the low interest rates paid at banks has not rewarded savers. With few investment options much of this money has drifted towards housing and driven housing prices sky high. The economic efficiency of credit is beginning to collapse in China and the unwinding of China’s giant credit spree could be very painful. More in the article below.

http://brucewilds.blogspot.com/2014/03/china-and-great-credit-trap.html

Tue, 11/11/2014 - 23:02 | 5439070 Dinero D. Profit
Dinero D. Profit's picture

It's better to build empty cities than pyramids. imo.

Tue, 11/11/2014 - 23:14 | 5439102 TeraByte
TeraByte's picture

Explica por favor

Tue, 11/11/2014 - 23:26 | 5439124 ReligiousAtheist1
ReligiousAtheist1's picture

Well if the chinese like their ghost cities they can keep their ghost towns

Tue, 11/11/2014 - 23:31 | 5439133 Bunga Bunga
Bunga Bunga's picture

But they are buying all with cash, right?

Tue, 11/11/2014 - 23:33 | 5439141 sidiji
sidiji's picture

just missing, the asshole new yorkers.

Tue, 11/11/2014 - 23:34 | 5439142 sidiji
sidiji's picture

just missing, the asshole new yorkers.

Wed, 11/12/2014 - 00:10 | 5439210 Son of Captain Nemo
Son of Captain Nemo's picture

"China's $50-billion knock-off of the Big Apple - near the port city of Tianjin, some 120 miles from Beijing - complete with its own Rockefeller Center and Twin Towers?"...

Simply amazing and too weird for fucking words! 

Yes indeed! They love doing things big and "over budget" just like those other people that love the sun and the sand and fractional reserve banking!!!

When it comes time at least we know a few people in Tel Aviv and Washington that can help them with their building safety codes and collapse of their own "Towers' with five dancing fellows speaking Hebrew!

Wed, 11/12/2014 - 00:09 | 5439213 turnoffthewater
turnoffthewater's picture

F* NY. That doesn"t mean the fire dept, NYFD is one of the very few things good about NY.

Wed, 11/12/2014 - 00:20 | 5439217 pocomotion
pocomotion's picture

This is simply nonsense.  There are people hiding in them buildings, I swear. 

If all those buildings that are loaded with people all marched to the ocean, these buildings would not stop dumping into our oceans. 

Wed, 11/12/2014 - 00:31 | 5439253 Quaderratic Probing
Quaderratic Probing's picture

New world currency center...ya right. There as dumb as the rest with free cash.

Wed, 11/12/2014 - 00:31 | 5439254 Peak Finance
Peak Finance's picture

It's almost like primitive "cargo-cult" type thinking, we build a replica of New York and the gods will make us the financial capital of the world!! or something....

Wed, 11/12/2014 - 00:39 | 5439260 HardlyZero
HardlyZero's picture

No, no, no.  Just ask a prepper.

It's the Ultimate Chinese bug-out shack.

When SHTF and everything falls apart and there are riots in the streets, and Rome is burning.

They will have a pretty good setup for Civilization II.

Its a really awesome bug-out pad.

Holy Moly ... its a pre-fab city waiting for the next society.

Ultimate prepping.

Everone else will be in the woods rubbing rocks and sticks together.

Wed, 11/12/2014 - 00:58 | 5439295 thebigunit
thebigunit's picture

"However, just curious, what is the US building?  What is our ever-so-practical $50 billion project?"

California High Speed Rail, $68 billion.

You didn't think we would let the ChiCom's beat us, did you?

Wed, 11/12/2014 - 01:34 | 5439330 trader1
trader1's picture

all of this is capacity for the future mass migration of japanese to mainland china.

Wed, 11/12/2014 - 02:52 | 5439403 silverer
silverer's picture

Actually, it's for the Chinese. You see, we get FEMA camps, but the Chinese get new cities. Great concept.

Wed, 11/12/2014 - 02:02 | 5439362 Sizzurp
Sizzurp's picture

Malinvestment to the extreme.  Somebody got drunk on central planning koolaid.  As wasteful as it seems, we have had our share of centrally planned misadventures in the US as well.  How about a 4.5 trillion dollar balance sheet at the fed?  That seems like the ultimate waste.

Wed, 11/12/2014 - 02:37 | 5439391 MedTechEntrepreneur
MedTechEntrepreneur's picture

How about 125 + Trillion off balance sheet debt of the Federal Government... Now that is some serious debt. 

Wed, 11/12/2014 - 02:12 | 5439372 Panic Mode
Panic Mode's picture

Great scene set for zombie or apocoloypse type of movie productions

Wed, 11/12/2014 - 02:50 | 5439402 silverer
silverer's picture

I get it. Build all those buildings, then after our nuclear war with Russia, they can export them to us as replacements.

Wed, 11/12/2014 - 05:01 | 5439473 TheCosmicTaco
TheCosmicTaco's picture

Stupid Chicom assclowns. Next time, build your empty skyscrapers downtown, not 120 miles from nowhere.

 

Wed, 11/12/2014 - 05:20 | 5439486 Wild E Coyote
Wild E Coyote's picture

You would think, that our Banker friends would have learned their lessons after the ASEAN monetory crisis in 1998. Obviously not. This is indication of Chinese smartness. 

Our friends were sacked in ASEAN basically by the same Chinese. And they still think they can control China.

I would venture to postulate that Chinese companies borrowed heavily from western Banks and build such cities. And when the time comes, The chinese companies will go bankrupt.

The chinese Government will not backup the companies as ASEAN Governments were basically forced to by the western Banks. So, the buldings  will be simply put up for auction and sold at cheap at whatever price people can afffort. The Banks which loaned to this Chinese companies will go Bankrupt. 

Or the US Government can come in again to buy up thses Chinese Ghost towns and bail out the Banks.

More fun is awaiting.  

 

Wed, 11/12/2014 - 05:48 | 5439495 Debugas
Debugas's picture

"They are building stuff that nobody really wants or needs"

The statement above is simply not true.

People want and need some better place to live, the problem is they can not afford it


Wed, 11/12/2014 - 05:58 | 5439501 justmy2cents
justmy2cents's picture

All that money to spend and they copy Manhattan? Why not design and build something original that's outrageously creative and useful that would become a global landmark in it's own right. Stupid arse if you ask me.

I suppose it could be converted into an Obola treatment city in the near future so it might get used.

Wed, 11/12/2014 - 06:41 | 5439528 nixy
nixy's picture

" ............by printing vast quantities of cheap money...."

 

WTF does that even mean?

Wed, 11/12/2014 - 08:57 | 5439682 Debugas
Debugas's picture

it means lending with zero interest rate

Wed, 11/12/2014 - 07:28 | 5439557 justsayin2u
justsayin2u's picture

The Chinese should build a building 60 miles tall.  That would be impressive.  Or how bout a ship 10 miles long by 5 miles wide?  How bout a hole allthe way through the earth?  How bout a bridge to Japan?

Wed, 11/12/2014 - 16:31 | 5441488 MaldelBot
MaldelBot's picture

They are certainly a creative people.....

Wed, 11/12/2014 - 18:08 | 5441820 tarabel
tarabel's picture

 

 

Let's build a couple of scaled down 737 replicas and, well, you know....

Thu, 11/13/2014 - 00:14 | 5442955 Tachyon5321
Tachyon5321's picture

 

 

These emptry cities are very important to china because with them they will meet Obama's global warming targets without  having to do anything. 

 

 

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