THE JEW-CIEST TOUR OF SHANGHAI

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I was met in the Peace hotel foyer by Dvir Bar-Gal: the man responsible for this tour of the rich Jewish history of Shanghai. When the group had all gathered he lead us up to the 8th floor of the hotel and sat us down on the plush red leather sofas. I was unsure how deep into Shanghai's Jewish history Dvir planned to go but almost immediately any fears of it being underdeveloped were assuaged. He lucidly took us through an outline of the Jewish influence in Shanghai before launching into a tirade of information about the Peace hotel itself. From the art deco features of the dining room to the historys of the three main Jewish families in Shanghai, Dvir's knowledge seemed to know no bounds. However, even infinite knowledge can be useless if inferred in a boring way. Dvir's delivery was both exciting and easy to follow with jokes and rhetorical questions keeping all members of the party engrossed throughout. We were taken around the upper reaches of the Peace hotel before being shown to the rooftop; you got the feeling that the staff were more than used to his presence. From the roof Dvir proceeded to point out all buildings of Jewish significance that we could see (and some we could not, yet with a bit of imagination and Dvir's delivery the past came flooding back).

The Shanghai-Jewish story is so awash with intrigue and endeavour: a true survival story, that it is wonderful to see someone like Dvir keeping it alive with such passion. His involvement in the Jewish story doesn't stop with the tour, he is engrossed in a project concerned with the preservation of Shanghai-Jewish tombstones all of which were removed and forgotten during the Cultural Revolution. He has been searching the locale and has so far recovered 85 scattered about. He is driven.

From the Peace hotel we traveled by minibus to the Hongkou region of Shanghai, over the Garden Bridge and down the former Broadway. Once there, Dvir proceeded to bring to life all the old Shanghai-Jewish landmarks walking us from one side to the other via a park with the only Jewish monument in Shanghai in it. We were taken down the Hongkou lanes almost into the former Jewish residences and allowed a real feel of Jewish life in WWII Shanghai. Next we were taken to Ohel Moishe synagogue and shown two videos. There was an art exhibition in the synagogue and a small tour given by the amazing Mr. Wang. On finishing at Ohel Moishe, we were taken to the HSBC building back on the Bund where after a nice explanation of the elaborate foyer we and Dvir parted ways.

If you have any link with the Shanghai Jewish community and can provide Dvir with an address or even just a name he is happy to try to show you where they lived. What with Shanghai changing so quickly the history is being demolished and the expo in 2010 could see all change for the former 'Little Vienna' of Hongkou, so strike while the iron is hot. The amount of information imparted was eye-opening and despite the four hour duration and 400rmb price-tag this tour comes very highly recommended and is worth the effort.