11 June 2015
J G Ballard was interned by the Japanese in China during the war. He would have been delighted by the stories expats tell, and the pictures they show you on their phones. Out there in the haze where the sky-scrapers stop, entire theme parks, retail centres and towns made for shopping and leisure stand empty. Squatters have taken over structures which were made to resemble Star Wars sets. Fake alien planets are now actual parallel worlds. I met a chef who had worked in the a clutch of western capitals' Chinatowns and never needed a word of English. Now he cooks fusion and does currency deals for expats. He had made two and half thousand pounds that day, and some Shepherd's pies. That is Suzhou.
Down to the Sea in Ships by Horatio Clare has been selected to the Wales Literature Exchange 2014 - 2015 Bookcase, our annual selection of recent Welsh literary works which we recommend for translation. His journey to China was organised in partnership with Literature Across Frontiers and supported by Wales Arts International.