On the outskirts of Yinchuan, a sleepy provincial capital near the Gobi Desert, workers put the finishing touches on Château Changyu Moser XV, a vast building with white stone walls and black-tiled mansard and domed roofs. If it weren’t for the cast-metal statues of Chinese lions guarding the main gate, it could pass as a classical château found in the cradle of France’s Loire Valley. When it opens soon, the 150-acre estate will serve as local headquarters for Changyu Pioneer Wine, a Chinese vintner that already has ersatz châteaux in other parts of China. This summer the company announced plans to spend $950 million on a “wine city” in eastern China’s Shandong province, complete with two châteaux and a European-style village.
A marble Dionysius greets guests at the Dynasty Château in Tianjin, northern China, completed in 2010
