Shanghai, Day 2

According to most legends, t’ai chi was developed by a Chinese monk observing a fight between a snake and a crane. Master Pan may have made this ancient technique look graceful and simple, but as we found out this morning, it is anything but. We met in Fu Xiing Park, bundled against the cold and joining hundreds of other Chinese who were out for their morning exercise. Some chose to waltz to Strauss or Chinese ballads. Others were tossing Chinese yo-yos or kite dancing. But many were also practicing this 2,000 year-old martial art under the canopy of large sycamore trees in the heart of the French Concession. Many of us were grateful for the exercise, which warmed cold muscles, even though we weaved and bobbed through the movements, rather than mimed the long, clean stretches executed by Master Pan. At the end of the session, Master Pan showed the group some of the moves that make him, well, a master. With his sword, or jian, in hand, he showed us how something that looks so passive, can really be an aggressive and offensive move. The philosophy is summed up by the words of Lao Tze: “The soft and the pliable will defeat the hard and the strong.”

After thanking our Master, we boarded the bus and picked up our next expert, Dvir Bar-Gal, a journalist who came to Shanghai eight years ago. At that time, he took a tour of the Hong Kou ghetto, much like the one he took us on today. Upon learning he was a journalist, his tour guide gave him a news tip that would turn into the pursuit of his life. At the end of World War II, four Jewish cemeteries existed in Shanghai. Yet, after China opened to the West again at the end of the 20th century, not one remained. Where did they go? And what happened to the tombstones? Dvir begun to dig, and he tracked two headstones down in an antique shop outside of Shanghai. More investigation turned up others that were part of makeshift walls and sidewalks. Some were even laying at the bottom of rivers and streams. Dvir rescued them all … and then some. All told, he has more than 80 tombstones in his possession, which he would like to see become part of a memorial to the Shanghai refugees. Unfortunately, it seems that there is a lot more red tape to untangle before Dvir’s dream becomes a reality. In the meantime, he makes time to take Jewish visitors around the area that most of the Russian and European Jews called their home in the first part of the 1900s. Although all the Jews had moved out of the Shanghai by the end of the 1940s, he can point out the nails that once held mezuzahs, or the gates that bear a Star of David design. He tells of those who helped the Jews – and those that didn’t. When Dvir tells these stories, you know that he is a man on a mission, and not just because of his work with the tombstones. Progress is rapidly impeding on this chapter of Shanghai’s history. A pharmacy that belonged to a Russian-Jewish family and bore the original signage was being pulled down when we visited, and more demolition in the area is slated on top of all that has already been destroyed. One, two years from now, most of Dvir’s tour may be relegated to his iphone, which showed pictures of buildings that have already been torn down around the old ghetto area. “Look here,” he said, as we all closed in around him, lucky that we could get a small glimpse of this history that is so quickly fading.

After leaving off with Dvir, the group then went to tour the Yu Gardens. It was a tranquil setting that gave us a moment to reflect on what we had just heard and seen with our previous guide. However, the solitude abruptly ended when we stepped onto the streets outside the gardens lined with loads of Chinese bric-a-brac shops. Students were happy to part with their money in exchange for some toys and souvenirs. We then quickly refueled ourselves with another huge feast at Chabad, and then traveled back to The Bund to board a river cruise to take in the night finery of the city. Despite the near freezing temperatures, most students enjoyed the views from the open-air top deck of the boat. We admired the regal architecture of the old 19th century on one side, while marveling at the scale and technology that is defining the Pudong side of the 21st century.

Shaghai is bent on moving forward. Yet there are still some practicing ancient ways and teaching the unique history of Shanghai. Watching these two sides, one sees a classic Taoist battle: the soft and steady voices of reason trying to throw off the hard and aggressive jackhammers of development.