[American colleges] cloned British universities’ libraries, cathedrals, quads, sculptures and even dress codes in the hopes of recreating the feel (and prestige) of Oxford and Cambridge. These days, colleges in China are copying America’s copycat approach. There’s a university in Shanghai where faux English manor houses sit side-by-side with dorms modeled on Britain’s half-timbered homes. To the north, Hebei province boasts a university inspired by Harry Potter’s Hogwarts—itself fashioned on the traditional collegiate Gothic. Even specific colleges have been cloned. The University of Nottingham’s Ningbo campus features replicas of the U.K. school’s iconic landmarks, flanked by British gardens.
[…] the recent turn toward revival architecture has been largely driven by the Chinese themselves: Looking like the best schools in the world seems, to many, like the natural first step toward becoming one of the best schools in the world. It’s a “dress for the ranking you want, not the ranking you have” mentality, and the historic styles serve to make newer schools seem as though they’re bastions of a time-honored academic tradition.