This Side of the Pond

They say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, but sometimes it’s a surreal experience to be told you’re awesome. I discovered this week that I could walk all the way from Britain to China and still find myself staring at Victorian church spires and Tudor houses.

There’s a replica version of London on the outskirts of Shanghai, complete with as many symbols of Britishness as its designers were able to think of. It has pubs and shops, lamp posts and pillar boxes, statues of Winston Churchill and Princess Diana, even a replica of the Rock Point Inn from Lyme Regis in my home coun...