Hebei's own Hogwarts to be center for animation

Photo taken on May 24, 2014 shows a college building in Shijiazhuang, Hebei province which resembles Hogwarts, the magical school in the hit Harry Porter films. [Photo: CFP]

Aspiring Harry Potters hoping to study at a real-life Hogwarts being built in north China's Hebei Province are facing disappointment.

For the Hebei Academy of Fine Art building taking shape in Xinle City is not going to be used for teaching, it was reported yesterday.

Instead, the structure —which bears an uncanny resemblance to the school of witchcraft and wizardry in the Harry Potter films based on JK Rowling's novels — will be China's biggest comic and animation center, China News Service reported.

It is part of a 2.4 billion yuan (US$384 million) animation project, listed as one of 30 major cultural industry programs by the province.

And despite a giant clock tower, castle ramparts and soaring turrets creating a startling likeness to Hogwarts, the building is actually called Cinderella's Castle.

The Daily Mail newspaper in Britain has described the Hebei Academy of Fine Art building as a "real-life Hogwarts."

"Designers say the university is modeled on the architecture of the castles of medieval Europe, rather than Harry Potter's school but the resemblance is startling," the newspaper reported.

Hogwarts in the Harry Potter movies is actually Alnwick Castle in Northumberland, northeast England, with a little CGI enhancement, it added.

Some readers leaving comments on the newspaper's website seemed bemused by Hebei's Hogwarts.

"The Chinese have thousands of years of wonderful architecture to call upon. So why copy this? This is tacky beyond belief," wrote "Rarius."

Last week, a replica of the Great Sphinx at Hebei Cultural Renovation Park in the province's Shijiazhuang City angered Egyptian authorities so much that they complained to the United Nations.

A park manager said the replica, made from steel and cement, had been built as a temporary prop for filming.

"Once the shooting is finished, it will be pulled down," said the manager.