Conducted by an expert guide, this half-day Jewish Heritage tour is offered as an option to our guests whose China tour itineraries include Shanghai. The city has a rich Jewish legacy primarily due to Jewish fortune seekers (Baghdadi Jews from the Middle East) who arrived in Shanghai following in the footsteps of the British colonialists and Jewish refugees who arrived from Europe at the beginning of WWII to escape the Holocaust.
The half-day tour takes in the following historical sites:
Ohel Rachel Synagogue
500 Shaanxi N Rd, Jingan Qu, Shanghai / 静安区陕西北路500号
Transportation: 20 minutes’ taxi ride from hotel
In the 1930s and 1940s, Ohel Rachel Synagogue was a refuge for Jews who flocked to China in order to escape persecution in Europe. Shanghai welcomed an astonishing 17,000 Jewish immigrants during that time because of its open-door immigration policy. Due to subsequent political developments, Ohel Rachel is one of remaining of six synagogues that populated Shanghai: four were demolished and one has been converted into an office building. In 2008, Ohel Rachel Synagogue held its first religious wedding after more than 60 years of misuse. In its restored capacity as a synagogue and its new one as a museum, Ohel Rachel honors the long history of the Jewish presence in China.
Peace Hotel (formerly Sassoon House & Cathay Hotel)
20 Nanjing E Rd, Huangpu Qu, Shanghai / 和平饭店，外滩南京东路20号
Transportation: 20 minutes Walk or 8 minutes’ taxi ride from hotel
The building was built by Sir Victor Sassoon, of the Sassoon family, which built a Shanghai business and real estate empire in the early 20th century. He was a British Sephardic Jew of Iraqi origin, educated at Harrow School and Cambridge University. His family managed extensive business holdings in Hong Kong, Shanghai, and Calcutta. Sassoon House was the first high-rise building built by Victor Sassoon, and one of the first skyscrapers in the Eastern Hemisphere. It was designed by architects Palmer and Turner, with a reinforced concrete structure. Construction began in 1926, and was completed in 1929. Since then, the hotel has gone through several major renovations including anti-seismic reinforcements. Today, the property is operated as Fairmont Peace Hotel.
Jewish Refugees Museum (former Ohel Moshe Synagogue)
62 Changyang Rd, Hongkou Qu, Shanghai Shi / 虹口区长阳路62号上海犹太人难民纪念馆
Pulic Transportation: 2 stops on Metro Line 10, get off at Tian Tong Road Station, transfer to metro Line 12 for 2 stops, gets off at Tilanqiao Station, Take exit 1 or 2 and walk for 3 minutes.
Taxi: 15 minutes’ ride from hotel
The Ohel Moshe congregation was established by Russian Jewish immigrants in Shanghai in 1907. This Ashkenazi congregation was named after Moshe Greenberg, a member of the Russian Jewish community, and was first established in a rented space. As the congregation grew to 250 families by the 1920s, Rabbi Meir Ashkenazi, Chief Rabbi of Shanghai, supported the creation of a new space for the congregation. In 1927, the current structure was created by remodeling an existing three-story building in the Hongkou District. The synagogue is situated on what was once Ward Road (now Changyang Road), close to the Ward Road Gaol (now Tilanqiao Prison).
Ohel Moshe and Ohel Rachel are the only two Jewish temples of old Shanghai that still stand, out of the original six. In 2004, the Ohel Moshe Synagogue was inscribed on the list of architectural heritage treasures of Shanghai. In 2007, the Government of Hongkou District restored the synagogue to its original architectural style based on the original drawings in the municipal archives, and opened it as a museum commemorating the Jewish refugees. Some of the residential buildings from the ghetto period still stand around the former synagogue, though most have been demolished. The museum itself, and the remaining historic structures, are preserved as part of the Tilanqiao Historic Area.
If time permits, other locations may be added on request.
