10 Bizarre Buildings in China You Didn't Know Existed

Modern China has some of the most bizarre architecture you've ever seen. It's hard to believe buildings can look like this—leave it to China to make them a reality.

Tianzi Hotel is in Langfang, Hebei province. Despite being called the “world’s biggest image building” by Guinness, the hotel was also voted the ugliest building in China in 2012. These three men are traditional deities representing happiness, wealth, and longevity, but it’s quite a shocker to see them casually placed in the suburbs of Beijing.

This office building in Shenyang takes the shape of an ancient coin and symbolizes best wishes of wealth and fortune for the companies that lodge here. It’s no coincidence that several foreign banks have decided to move in. The Fangyuan Mansion was voted top ten ugly buildings by CNN in 2012—but it was also crowned most creative building at an architectural design convention in Venice.

This round structure named “the circle of life” sits in Fushun of Liaoning province, all the way up in China’s north. The circular silhouette, intended to symbolically connect earth and sky, raised controversy because of its 112 million Yuan (US $177 million) cost. The giant circle originally included entertainment options such as bungee jumping, but that was later taken out. It’s just a plain sightseeing circle now.

The “Big Short,” nicknamed by Chinese netizens, refers to the office building of state media CCTV set in Beijing. Voted as top ten architectural miracles by Time magazine, the avant-garde building was designed by a Dutch architect. However, jokes about the building were banned by the state.

This giant foot firmly on the ground is the new LV building in Shanghai. Nicknamed the “boots” building, it’s a luxury shopping complex set at the center of a commercial circle. The complex opened in March 2013.

A first look and you may think this is the U.S. Capitol in Washington D.C. It is, in fact, a court building thousands of miles away in Shanghai. China has been known as a copycat nation – apparently the copying doesn’t just stop at designer goods. The people’s court of Minhang District sits at the top of a list of buildings similar to the U.S. Capitol.

Another state media organization decides to revamp its headquarters – this time it’s the People’s Daily – and people respond by crowning it with multiple nicknames before the building finishes construction. Some call it a “chamber pot” while others joke about its resemblance to certain body parts. The building has an estimated completion time set in 2014.

This Wuliangye office building in Yibin, Sichuan, is straightforward—it looks exactly like a bottle of hard liquor made by the company, only enlarged to hangover-size. While some applaud the liquor brand for creativity, others simply see it as a case of bad taste. The result? Brand popularity went up and the structure was nominated as third ugliest building of China in 2012.

This magnificent structure that sits on Lake Tai Hu is the Sheraton Hotel of Huzhou. This hot springs resort hotel charges up to $400 a night. Internet users showed no mercy when they referred to structure as a half donut.

The Hefei Art Museum has been dubbed a copycat of the renowned “Bird’s Nest” Olympic Stadium in Beijing, only messier. It also looks like chopsticks piled on top of each other. However, the museum has not been performing up to standards since catching the Internet’s attention. Two years have passed since the completion date and the museum is nowhere near opening due to water leakages.