Imagine meeting a relative or friend 15 years ago. She seemed sophisticated, yet down to earth. Confident, yet modest. Fast forward a decade and a half. You haven’t met in all those years and now she’s not only famous, but world-known. The top of her game.
That’s how I see Shanghai. Although I haven’t been there in 18 years, I’m utterly amazed by her transformation and have this “I knew her back when…” outlook.
So in researching my new writing project, which takes place in Shanghai, I’ve located a couple guidebooks from back then. I couldn’t find any from 1988 or 1991, although a Hong Kong-published Odyssey Guide that came out in 1995 is a third edition, which coincidentally was first published in 1988.
The other book I found is a US-published Fodor’s pocket guide to Shanghai, published in 1998. At that point, it had been three years since I’d visited the city, but 1998 marked the year I left my expat life in Hong Kong. So I thought it was still somewhat relevant.
I didn’t use guidebooks in Shanghai back then, so was curious to see if the city’s Jewish history was there all along and I’d just missed it, or were people back then just re-discovering it, as I would years later.
I checked out the Peace Hotel in each book because when I stayed there in ’95, I was only partly aware of its amazing history. I knew it was old school Shanghai, but wasn’t aware of its Jewish background.
The Odyssey guide from 1995 devotes a page to Shanghai’s Jewish history. Written by historian Tess Johnston, it seems quite accurate, although doesn’t mention the Peace (formerly Cathay) Hotel in that section. When I find the Peace’s listing, it’s under the four-star hotel heading (Shanghai only had about five five-star hotels then) and doesn’t credit Victor Sassoon–it’s developer and visionary–in it’s little description.
The Fodor guide, published three years after the Odyssey one, only includes two paragraphs about Jews in Shanghai, and it’s littered with misinformation. For one, it doesn’t mention the influential Sephardic community or the Russian Jews that came in the 1920s. The European Jewish refugees–according to the book–were professionals and established their own community in Shanghai during the war. Although that doesn’t accurately tell the story, the sentence that ends this part is downright wrong: “…most Jews survived the war, at which point the majority returned to Europe.”
They left Shanghai for Israel, Australia, Canada, and the US. Very few returned to Europe.
But Fodor’s description of the Peace Hotel from 1995 captures what I remember: “The rooms are not glamorous anymore, but they are homey and still retain a charming old-Shanghai ambience.”
Hi Susan,
This sounds like a fascinating project, and it’s exciting you are already working on your next book! In fact, I’d actually love to hear more about the project. Are you looking to write mainly about the Jewish community in Shanghai? Couldn’t tell exactly from this post.
If so, my guess is that the JDC (Joint Distribution Committee for Jewish charities) will have lots of info in their archives, as, I think, will the online archives from The Shoah project (I think that’s the archive–I used these when I wrote an article about the Jews who escaped Europe through Kobe, Japan, in WWII after a Japanese diplomat in Luthuania, Chinue Sugihara, issued them exit visas against his government’s orders. A few thousand escaped to Kobe but were then sent to Shanghai after Pearl Harbor.) If you can’t find this info online but want it, let me know and I’ll try to dig through my files to see if I can find the references. There were quite a few fascinating photos, as I recall. I’m also pretty sure there are a number of books published about this topic that could be useful.
Anyway, looking forward to following your progress!
Tracy
Thank you so much, Tracy! This is such an amazing comment. I found one file in the JDC’s archives of my relative’s 8-year stay in Shanghai. I need to look through it more carefully to see if there’s more. Besides The Fugu Plan, there’s also a book called The Jews, Nazis, and Japanese or something like that from the mid-70s. I’m sure you know what I’m talking about. It’s fascinating that these books came out in the 70s, but there haven’t been many published since then. We usually hear about the journeys like my cousin took–by boat from Germany or Italy. Thank you again so much!
Also,
The China Guidebook by Kaplin/Sobin/de Keijzer (1986, Seventh Edition) is silent on Jewish history of Shanghai in its description of the city and the Peace Hotel. However, you might like its description of the Hotel. “Despite its faded façade, worn carpets, and a rather gloomy lobby, the 14-storey Peace Hotel (formerly the Cathay Hotel) is Shanghai’s most popular hostelry….The 180 rooms at the Peace Hotel are still extremely comfortable and spacious.” Page 545.
The 1986 edition of The Official Guidebook of China (China Travel and Tourism Press) is silent on the subject.
Have fun with your project.
Thank you so much for this and the post below! You don’t know what goldmines these are! The Peace’s description from 1986 sounds just like what I found in 1995, although I think part of the hotel had been renovated a year or two before I stayed there. At that time, the Peace also occupied the former Palace Hotel across the street. Maybe that was the renovated part? That building is no longer part of the Peace Hotel. Fascinating how the Jewish history is absent. From what I’ve found, it was more prevalent in books published in Asia back then (I have another one published in Shanghai in 1995) than in ones from the US. There was a resurgence in 1930s and 40s Shanghai history when I was last there in 1995.
Susan,
I reviewed my China: A Travel Survival Kit, by Lonely Planet (1984). The lengthy write-up on Shanghai itself does not mention the Jewish history. However, the description of the Peace Hotel includes the following: “The Peace is a ghostly reminder of the immense wealth of Victor Sassoon, from a Baghdad Jewish family; he made millions out of the opium trade and then ploughed it back into Shanghai real estate and horses. Sassoon’s quote of the day was ‘There is only one race greater than the Jews, and that’s the Derby’. His office-cum-hotel was completed in 1930 and was known as Sassoon House, incorporating the Cathay Hotel. From the top floors, Victor commanded the real estate – he is estimated to have owned 1900 buildings in Shanghai. As for the Cathay Hotel, that fell into the same category as the Taj in Bombay, the Stanley Raffles in Singapore and the Peninsula in Hong Kong as one of – or was it the [italics] place to stay. Sassoon himself resided in what is now the VIP section below the green pyramidal tower. complete with Tudor paneling -he also maintained a Tudor-style villa out near Hongqiao Airport just west of the zoo – it’s now called the Hongqiao Club and is leased long-term by businessmen at Y1500 per day.” Lonely Planet, Page 346.
Andrew
H’lo Susan,
Following along in your weblog the development of this project will be
interesting considering our shared interest in Shanghai. My information
is 150 years old, mostly, so can’t be much help there unless your
characters have some deep historical recollections – then perhaps I can
recommend some sources. If it’s Yang Shen you’re reading (rather than
it’s cousin Yankee Mandarin), then you’ll see in the Reading List some
of the English and Chinese references that I have used (I have quite a
few more as well which I can send along, some on a more recent
Shanghai).
I have added your weblog to those we follow over at the Old China Books
book blog, to more easily keep up with your progress. A lot of research
material for Yang Shen Book II, which I’m working on now, does not
make it into the book so, rather than just shelve it all, some is put into
weblog posts on the OCB blog. Such posts include John Thomson Photographs, Chinese Courtyard Houses 四合院, Manilamen and Mandarins – Filipinos in 1860s
China, Disappearing Shanghai, Reconstructing Lost Places in Towns of Old
China (also re Shanghai), and so on. Readers get to follow along with my
progress on Book II and, sometimes, the posts have a broader appeal that
brings new visitors to the OCB weblog.
步步高升
James
Thank you so much, James! I am reading Yang Shen and apologize that’s it’s been taking me so long. I started it when I was still revising my first memoir. And now I’m researching the next one. But I promise to get back to you soon! My Shanghai project takes place during WWII and again in the 1980s and first part of the 90s. I’ll definitely check out your book list. Some of the ones you listed here seem very relevant! Thank you again!
Susan, I enjoy your posts so much!
Thank you so much, Miriam! That really made my day!