China's 'Little Kyoto' reboots with North Korean and Russian shops

Japanese touches toned down after critics slammed complex for 'cultural invasion'

A North Korean restaurant is part of a Dalian commercial park previous known as "Tang Little Kyoto," which is reopening under a new name and with purveyors featuring food and products from China, Russia and Mongolia. (Photo by Shin Watanabe)

SHIN WATANABE, Nikkei staff writer

January 13, 2022 05:43 JST

DALIAN, China -- A shopping and residential complex originally modeled after the streets of Kyoto that angered locals is set to reopen in Dalian on Jan. 23 -- albeit with a markedly less Japanese theme this time around.

The facility first opened in August under the name of Tang Little Kyoto. Property developer Dalian Shuyuan Group had spent around 6 billion yuan ($941 million) and worked with a Japanese partner to replicate the footpath to Kiyomizu-dera, one of Kyoto's most popular tourist attractions, over an area of about 600,000 sq. meters.