Flights of architectural fantasy in the China's cities of grey
Chongqing businessman defies government opposition to build castle-like buildings, one of several millionaires behind eccentric projects
Liu Chonghua stands on a crenellated turret atop a castle - one of six he has built.
As the greatest urbanisation drive in history swells the mainland's cities in a sea of identical apartment blocks, Liu is creating unusual, some might say outlandish, architecture that harkens back to a time when kings ruled and knights jousted.
Liu made millions of dollars running a company that feeds the mainland's growing appetite for bread and cakes. He's poured that money into parapets and ramparts and plans to live in a grey stone structure that resembles Britain's Windsor Castle and towers above surrounding rice fields.
His other citadels include a red-brick fairytale edifice where spires soar so grandly it could be the setting for Disney's Aladdin . The baker has also built an edifice of white confection, with candy-coloured towers reminiscent of Neuschwanstein, the hilltop fantasy built by Bavaria's 19th century "Mad" King Ludwig II.
The mainland's building boom is unprecedented in human history. The urban population has grown by more than 20 million people a year for more than a decade. The rush to house them all has given rise to hectares of utilitarian development.