Chinese Tech Company Out-Nerds American Tech Companies

Tuckerfan · May 25, 2015

Forget having steampunk offices or robots running around, a Chinese company has gone full Trekkie.

We already know history will never forget the name Enterprise, but now architecture won't either.

There's a building in China that looks almost exactly like the USS Enterprise from Star Trek. Drone footage (which we really wish was set to this music) shows how a relatively conventional-looking building from the ground dramatically transforms into a regal starship when viewed from the air.

Lest you think this is visual trickery done via Holodeck or CGI, the starship/building is clearly visible on Google Maps.

Our tipster explained to us that the building is the headquarters of NetDragon Websoft, a Chinese gaming and mobile Internet company. And it's no Chinese knock-off: Company Chairman Liu DeJian is reportedly an uberTrekkie, licensing from CBS the rights to build an Enterprise replica. Construction began in 2008 and was finished in 2014; the project cost $160 million total.

The building is the only officially licensed Star Trek building on the planet (you had your chance, Las Vegas). Besides its otherworldly shape, the building contains a replica display of a T-Rex dinosaur named Stan discovered in South Dakota in 1987, 30-foot metal slides that provide instant access to the ground floor from the third floor, and automatic sliding gates between each working area.

It's a fantastic homage to the Star Trek franchise, but which Enterprise is it? At first glance, the building looks closest to the Enterprise-E seen in the later Next Generation movies, but there are hints of the Enterprise-D and the starship design from the J.J. Abrams reboot movies.
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NAHTMMM · May 25, 2015

I think the hull section looks Excelsior class to me, but I'm rusty.

Anyway, neato.

Shirogayne · May 26, 2015

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Chinese Tech Company Out-Nerds American Tech Companies

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Chinese Tech Company Out-Nerds American Tech Companies

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