Similar as many other developments, Minmetals’ Hallstatt is developed as a market-grade residential complex that is aimed to use tourism to attract buyers to the area. Located 30 kilometers away from the nearest urban city, Huizhou, this residential development is not the most accessible as it lacks major infrastructure. As such, the developer has gone through a lot of trouble advertising this as the new ‘destination’ for Chinese tourism; from its 1 to 1 replication of the famous 16the century Austrian town Hallstatt, to the construction of a man-made lake, Minmetals spend a large amount of its budget building the tourism aspect of the project.

       The 1st phase of the project is entirely dedicated to the retail district, which resembles Hallstatt completely and requires visitors to pay for tickets for entering. 2nd phase features one family luxurious villas that is directly connected with the retail district, and 3rd phase features mid-rise residential towers on the surrounding hills. While the project has attracted a somewhat sizable tourist population and has sold the majority of its residential properties, no one resides in the town. One visitor remarked upon entering during dusk hours that “as tourists began to dissipate, the town is transformed in a ghost town without anybody living in the empty buildings.”

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