Perhaps we shouldn't be surprised Thames Town is full of fakes

How many Shanghaiist readers do you think live in Lyme Regis, the quaint coastal town in southwest England with a population of around 3,500? The answer is at least one. Her name is Gail Caddy, owner of the 256-year-old pub called Rock Point Inn and the Cobb Gate Fish Bar next door. Caddy has taken a special interest in Shanghai ... ever since she found out that the people behind Shanghai's Thames Town community in Songjiang District totally ripped off her establishments.

From Caddy's email to us:

I own two business in Lyme Regis, Dorset called Rock Point Inn and Cobb Gate fish bar. These properties are unique. One is a pub and the other is a fish n' chip shop. I have owned them for 23 years. They are sited at a river mouth and also the sea. My properties have been copied by the developers in this new town. They have called them the same names, although Cobb is missing one 'B'. They have also copied the same structure and sited them with the Yangtze river behind.

I have been in touch with the Press Officer, Ben Thompson from Atkins, but have not really had any sense out of them as to how my properties have been copied.

Yes, it is very flattering but feel some sort of explanation could have been given, also permission to copy them. ...

Apparently, there is nothing I can do in the UK regarding copyright but it can be done in China.

Copyright? In China? Ummmmm.

We have no idea what the legalities are concerning this matter, but we do know simple manners say Caddy should have at least been notified of the copies. It would also be nice if the Shanghai versions included prominently displayed information about the original structures in Lyme Regis. It just seems like the proper thing to do, and we would hope Thames Town visitors would appreciate such knowledge ... although we doubt anyone who chooses to live in a place called Thames Town in Shanghai is worried much about authenticity. (Have any Shanghaiist readers been to Thames Town? Is it as scary as we imagine it to be?)

The photos above were all provided by Caddy. The top one is of the original Rock Point Inn and Cobb Gate Fish Bar, the bottom two pics were taken in Thames Town. The similarities don't seem to be coincidental.

The Daily Star recently ran a short story on this topic. Iain Burchell, who works for the paper, was nice enough to email us a version of the story. Here it is:

CHINESE TOOK AWAY MY PUB AND CHIPPY
A shameless Chinese takeaway has left Gail Caddy seeing double - her pub and chip shop have been nicked.
The picturesque pair of buildings have been recreated in Shanghai's own Little Britain.
Stunned Gail thought her businesses had been moved 6,000 miles when she saw China's replica British town in yesterday's Daily Star.
Thames Town's pub and chip shop are almost identical copies of her 256year-old boozer and chippy in Lyme Regis, Dorset. They even have the same names - the Rock Point Inn and Cobb Gate Fish Bar.
But those behind the project never told Gail, 53, they had added her businesses to their takeaway menu.
She said yesterday: "I couldn't believe it when I saw the pictures. The only difference is that my chip shop is called Cobb Gate with an extra 'B'. I just wish I'd been told about it."
Gail was waiting for an explanation from developers behind the project. She added: "They say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, so in a way I'm taking it as a compliment.
"My staff are all joking that I'll have to take them all out to Shanghai to see what it's like. But if the Chinese really want an authentic English experience, they should come to Lyme Regis."
Thames Town has been constructed as a new suburb of Shanghai. It is due to open in October.

This all has us wondering ... who serves the best fish 'n chips in town?

Also on Shanghaiist
Take a walk through Shanghai's 'Wee Britain' 'Thames Town'