You are standing in China. The Leaning Tower of Pisa tilts above your head. The Eiffel Tower stretches into the sky beside you. Wait a second. Shouldn’t these buildings be in Italy and France?

The people of China seem to love to build replicas. You can visit a Russian village in China. You can also see the Great Sphinx of Giza there. It makes sense that the Chinese people would build a model of one of their own old landmarks too. Right?

That’s right—and wrong. Today a film company is building a model of Summer Palace. A Chinese emperor built the palace for his son hundreds of years ago. French and British soldiers destroyed Summer Palace. That was in 1860. But now, for the first time, tourists can see exactly what it used to look like.

It costs people $46 to visit Summer Palace. Inside, it’s a show! Visitors watch actors carry gongs. One employee even wears an emperor’s clothes. The building project wasn’t cheap. It cost $5 billion. Builders created statues, temples, and waterfalls. Eventually the studio will make movies on the site.

But somebody thinks the new Summer Palace is a big mistake. Overseers of the real Summer Palace ruins don’t like the project. For them, Summer Palace isn’t about tourism or money. It’s about history. The ruins are nothing like the new project. Visitors there see gardens, lakes, and gray rubble. It doesn’t feel like a theme park.

Does the new Summer Palace disrespect China’s past? The ruins overseers think so. But historians disagree. They think, “What a great way to keep Chinese history alive!”