Is it Ironman or Transformers? Chinese ‘replica park’ puts up new statue

CHUZHOU — A towering statue of what appears to be a cross between a Transformers bot and an Ironman figure has been erected in a park in eastern China — next to a replica of Egypt’s Great Sphinx of Giza.

Photos of the 30-metre-tall statue in a red and yellow suit in an animation innovation park in Chuzhou, Anhui province, made its rounds on Chinese social media this week, news portal Renmin.com reported.

Bemused tourists posed for photos with the statue, which stood right beside a full-scale Sphinx duplicate in a bizarre juxtaposition of ancient history and modern technology.

The new statue is painted in the iconic red and yellow colours of Marvel Comics superhero Ironman, but its bulk bears more similarity to an Autobot from American film franchise Transformers.

The 20-metre-tall Sphinx replica beside it, which was set up around 2015, is the park’s iconic installation, according to previous media reports.

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The park was built by the Changcheng movie and television culture company, a firm focused on the culture industry, with the aim of making it the “Disneyland of the East”.

Comprising six main districts, the park features replicas of famous constructions around the world, including The Louvre in France, the Colosseum in Rome and the Qin dynasty’s Epang Palace.

Photos of the newly installed statue drew many shares and comments on Chinese social media.

One Weibo user wrote: “Animation innovation park? Or animation park for plagiarism?”

Another said: “(The builders are) uneducated and lack aesthetic sense. And they don’t even know that!”

China has frequently made headline for its replica constructions.

In Shijiazhuang, Hebei province, last April, a replica of the Great Sphinx was torn down after complaints from Egyptian officials.

Last November, British artist Wendy Taylor accused a sundial installed next to Shanghai’s Huangpu River of being a “complete copy” of her iconic London sculpture. SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST