ShoreTrips says...

Shanghai has 3 cruise ship ports. The one located in the city center is called the Shanghai International Cruise Terminal. The other two, which are located about an hour out of town, are the Waigao Qiao Cruise Terminal and the Wusongkou Cruise Terminal. This tour is priced based on picking up passengers at their Shanghai hotel or at the Shanghai International Cruise Terminal.

ShoreTrips has tracked down one of the best guides in Shanghai for this comprehensive tour of the area's Jewish history. The Peace Hotel will be your first stop and represents the successes of Sir Victor Sassoon, considered to be one of the greatest Jewish entrepreneurs in Shanghai's history. Making his mark on the architectural make up of the city, the Peace Hotel (formerly Cathay Hotel) was known as the gold standard of travel while Shanghai made a name for itself as the Paris of the East. Primarily making their wealth through early opium trading the Sassoon family goes down as best known Jewish name in the entire city with their imprint being found everywhere.

Despite the success of the Sassoon family the majority of Jewish refugees found their home in the Hongkou district or Shanghai Ghetto during the World Wars. With nearly 20,000 refugees taking up approximately 1 square mile, Jewish culture coexisted with the native Shanghainese in an area they considered their "Noah's Ark." With up to 10 people to a room, food shortages and little employment the Hongkou district epitomized the hardships endured by Jewish refugees fleeing Europe.

At the Ohel Moshe Synagogue you will see where Jewish refugees held Shabbat, religious activities and sought sanctuary from the Nazi regime. Now standing as the Shanghai Jewish Refugee Museum it represents a memory of the area's troubled past as well as an example of how two different cultures co-existed during a time of great turmoil. During a visit to the museum former Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin signed the guestbook with the following praise, “To the people of Shanghai for unique humanitarian act of saving thousands of Jews during the Second World War, thanks in the name of the government of Israel.”

This mesmerizing tour led by the best known guide in Shanghai will bring you into the little known world of Shanghai's Jewish history!