Hong Kong, HongKou, and Kaifeng, oh my!

Jews of Kaifeng

Last October I wrote about Xiaoming, who was recently told that her great-great-grandfather was Jewish.  She started working on how to research that and find out if the claim is true, and then decided to go to graduate school in Hong Kong.  While she is in China, she's looking for local background information about Chinese Jews, and she's doing a whirlwind tour.  In February she went to a shabbat service and attended a lecture on why the Chinese are so interested in Jewish people.  In March she visited several Jewish sites in Hong Kong.  Earlier this month she visited HongKou, Shanghai's former World War II Jewish ghetto.  And now she is off to Kaifeng to research the historical Jewish community there.  She promised to blog in real time, and I'm hoping to see a post soon.

I am really impressed with how Xiaoming is throwing herself into her search for information.  I don't know how likely it is that she'll find anything specifically about her family, but I'm sure she will learn a lot about the history of Jews in China, which will still help her with her research.

I wish I could make that kind of research trip!  How far have you traveled for your research?

Online Database of Hong Kong Protestant Cemetery

WWI Navy Grave

A new free database for the Hong Kong Protestant Cemetery listing names, plot numbers, and tombstone inscriptions has been launched on a Hong Kong history Web site.  The site says that "[t]he database was compiled as part of Patricia Lim's research for her recent book.  She has generously agreed to make it publicly available, and to let us publish a copy here on www.gwulo.com."

Lim's book is Forgotten Souls: A Social History of the Hong Kong Cemetery.  It discusses the lives of the people buried in the cemetery.  Some sample chapter headings are available on the Web site.

The database will eventually provide a complete listing of those buried at the cemetery (more than 6,000 graves), with inscriptions and plot numbers.  The database is still being developed, but you can currently search for names at http://gwulo.com/node/8738, note the plot number, then look up the plot through one of three links to find the inscription.  Later, photos and notes from the author will be added.