Jews in China: A History of Struggle

This history examines four main groups of Jewish immigrants to China across centuries. The Kaifeng Jews underwent extensive intermarriage and assimilation, becoming indistinguishable from their Chinese neighbors. The Baghdadi Jews arrived in Shanghai following the First Opium War, accumulating wealth through opium trade and real estate development. Russian Jews emigrated from the Pale of Settlement to Harbin, where they built prosperity by exporting Northeast China's natural resources to Europe. Finally, tens of thousands of German and Austrian Jews fled Nazi-occupied Europe and sought refuge in Shanghai. Nicholas Zane condenses this complex historical material into a comprehensive yet concise chronicle of these distinct communities and their experiences in China.