Expressing "similar" with 类似 and 相似
The adjectives 类似 and 相似 have the same meaning "similar", but differ slightly in usage.
The adjective 类似
The adjective 类似 
emphasizes that two objects or phenomena are of the same type.
emphasizes that two objects or phenomena are of the same type.Examples
警方在档案中查阅类似案件
The police check for similar cases in the files
jǐngfāng zài dǎng'àn zhōng cháyuè lèisì ànjiàn
他本身就曾有过类似的经历
He had a similar experience
tā běnshēn jiù céng yǒuguò lèisì de jīnglì
她以类似的方式作出了反应
She responded in the same way
tā yǐ lèisì de fāngshì zuòchū le fǎnyìng
The adjective 相似
The adjective 相似 emphasizes the similarity of two different objects or phenomena.
emphasizes the similarity of two different objects or phenomena.Examples
他们有着出奇相似的嗓音
They have remarkably similar voices
tāmen yǒuzhe chūqí xiāngsì de sǎngyīn
母子间有着极其相似的地方
The resemblance between the mother and her child is remarkable
mǔzǐ jiān yǒuzhe jíqí xiāngsì de dìfang
我的教学风格和多数教师相似
My teaching style is similar to the style of most teachers
wǒ de jiàoxué fēnggé hé duōshù jiàoshī xiāngsì
We also can use 相似 in the phrase 相似之处 .
.Examples
两个签名的相似之处很明显
The similarity between these two signatures is obvious
liǎng ge qiānmíng de xiāngsì zhī chù hěn míngxiǎn