Chinese Pavillion and Japanese Tower, Brussels

Imaginative King Leopold II wanted to build copies of famous buildings from around the world on his property. Architect Alexandre Marcel was assigned the task of designing these two structures, one Chinese and one Japanese. Finished in 1904, the towers connected by a tunnel, were built entirely of wood and now contain many artifacts crafted in Shanghai. Inside these exotic buildings you'll find a splendid mixture of 19th-century Chinese furniture, porcelain and European paintings from the 17th to 19th Centuries.