City of sanctuary

Israeli Ambassador to China Irit Ben-Abba said that she was "surprised "when she visited the exhibition Jews in Modern Tientsin, opened in the coastal city of Tianjin in mid-July, as it featured only a small part of the collection of the curator of the event.

Since 2001, 70-year-old Song Anna, a retired reporter from Tianjin Daily, has been interviewing Jewish people across the world who once lived in the city or who had relatives that did, collecting photographs from them showing their life in the city.

The exhibition features the cherished photos that Jewish people contributed depicting their childhood in the city, their communities and beloved Chinese friends and neighbors and many shining moments in their lives.

Impressed, Ben-Abba says: "It's very emotional to see a piece of the city's history, and of Jewish history."

The photo exhibition running until the end of this month depicts the lives of Jewish people in Tianjin during the first half of the 20th century, when the Jewish population in the city peaked at around 3,500.

"They may have come from Russia, Europe or escaped from Nazi Germany. ...I would like to express our sincere thanks to all the Chinese people again for their hospitality," the ambassador says, adding they had welcomed Jewish lifestyle in the city and Jewish businesses "nicely".

Ben-Abba visited Tianjin on July 18. As well as viewing the exhibition, she went to a well-preserved synagogue and held a business seminar with Tianjin medical and pharmaceutical companies.