Jingyao Jia

China’s Occident, England’s Orient explores simulated landscapes and architectural replicas in China and England, examining how cultural symbols are detached from their origins and recontextualised, and ultimately become a sign of exoticism. From Shanghai’s Thames Town to the full-scale replica of Big Ben in Zhengzhou, these environments reflect China’s fascination with Western culture. Conversely, places like Manchester’s Trafford Centre, with its exoticised Chinese-themed street, embody Western fantasies of the Orient. By exposing the hyperreality of these simulated spaces, this work challenges viewers to question how place, identity, and heritage are constructed within a globalised world still shadowed by its colonial past.