Hao Jinfang and Her Dystopic Metropolis

Hao Jinfang and Her Dystopic Metropolis
#BulgariStories

First Chinese woman to win the prestigious Hugo Prize in 2016 in the category of Best Novelette, Hao Jingfang is a writer who has receieved a wealth of attention, proof to how China is becoming, in the course of only a few years, one of the most interesting and prolific nations regarding the genre of science fiction. Hao’s story, Folding Beijing, describes a megapolis that turns and folds to allow three different categories of the population to live their lives during the day. In this dystopic metropolis, limited resources for survival are controlled by an elite that represents only five of the eighty million total urban population, living enshrouded in their privilege. Not lacking critical and dark tones, the story written by Hao in only three days, not only speaks of automation, artificial intelligence and the takeover of technology in daily life but also solitude, uncertainty and the lack of communication that pervades the dwellers of this mega-city in which millions of lives occupy the same space without touching and with absolutely no interest in doing so. A reflection which is applicable to all of humanity and every city, regardless of its latitude or longitude.

Manuela Lietti - © 2022 ARTE.it for Bulgari Hotel Beijing