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Several Chinese Tour Groups Are Pretending Sydney University Was Hogwarts in the 'Harry Potter' Films

News
by Tim Wenger Mar 22, 2019

There’s a rumor flying around Chinese tourist circles, one that has caught the eye of Harry Potter fans in particular. The false story claims that the Quadrangle building at the Sydney University in Australia was one of the filming locations for scenes involving Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry in the popular Harry Potter film series. As such, Chinese tourists are flocking to Sydney, with many asking the university’s front desk where they can find the film site.

“There’s been an astonishing increase in visitors throughout the university campus; in two years in February we’ve had more than a 4,000 people increase since 2017 to 2019,” said Dr Jamie Fraser to SBS News, senior curator of the Nicholson Museum, located inside the Quadrangle building.

The rumor caught wind largely because a number of unscrupulous websites serving travelers from China made the claim, which was then backed up by many tour guides escorting the tourists.

“Our tour guide told us this is where one of the scenes of Harry Potter was filmed,” a Chinese visitor told SBS News.

Instead, the series was filmed in the United Kingdom with many Hogwarts scenes taking place at Alnwick Castle in England. Misguided tourists disgruntled by their misfortunate quest will need to make the journey westward to visit this castle, as well as many other spots where the Harry Potter franchise was shot, such as the famous London Millennium Bridge featured in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince and the little village of Goathland in North Yorkshire with its train station, where the scenes of the Hogwarts Express arriving in Hogsmeade were shot.

H/T: Lonely Planet

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