Xiongan, China’s “city of the future” and a pet project of Xi Jinping, the country’s supreme leader, has become a byword for costly vanity projects. Central-government and provincial planners have spent at least 835bn yuan ($116bn) on the city since 2017, when they broke ground in what had been marshy farmland 125km south of Beijing. It has been touted as a solution to China’s urban maladies, with residents promised short commutes through leafy parks instead of cough-inducing traffic jams. The city is part, officials say, of a “one-thousand-year plan” in civilisation-building. A book about Xiongan from a state publisher lists its creation alongside the works of mythical emperors who supposedly lived 5,000 years ago.