A Conversation on a Paradise on Earth in Eight Frames

Tordis Berstrand

University of Plymouth

Amir Djalali

Xi’an Jiaotong-Liverpool University

Yiping Dong

Xi’an Jiaotong-Liverpool University

Jiawen Han

Xi’an Jiaotong-Liverpool University

Teresa Hoskyns

CRAC UK

Siti Balkish Roslan

Xi’an Jiaotong-Liverpool University

Glen Wash Ivanovic

Xi’an Jiaotong-Liverpool University

Claudia Westermann

Xi’an Jiaotong-Liverpool University

pp. 95-116

in: Sanna Lehtinen & Tea Lobo (eds), Philosophy of the City, East Asian Journal of Philosophy 1 (3), 2022.

Abstract

Once known as the city of silk, Suzhou [苏州] has become the centre of wedding dress production, selling paradise on earth for one day, including copies of the last royal wedding dress, out of shops at the foot of mythic Tiger Hill. Suzhou is also the host of what is known as the Silicon Valley of the East. It has attracted millions of migrants searching for a better future; millions of tourists visit every year to experience the past, strolling through the gardens and courtyards of its Old Town. The contrasts could hardly be more apparent. Slow time, and fast time, and the time of the in-between, are woven into the city’s complex spatial fabric. This is a conversation by eight authors in eight frames on a city that connects them.