One of the most interesting things about Kaifeng, besides its position as one of China’s seven major capitals, is the Jewish community that have prospered and suffered in the town since ancient times. The presence of a Jewish community in this area of eastern China has long been a mystery, although it seems fairly likely that their presence is related to trade. A Song dynasty (960-1279 AD) stele, now preserved in the Kaifeng museum, states that the immigrants arrived in the city around 3000 years ago. It is known that the population increased with the establishment of the legendary Silk Road, 1000-1500 years ago, the Jews arriving as Persian immigrants and silk merchants. By the late thirteenth century there were about 2,000 Jews in Kaifeng.

Today the community is fairly well integrated into the local population, after centuries of intermarriage, so that although more than two hundred of the Kaifeng population claim Jewish descent, they will not be overly easy to recognize. Thankfully the beliefs and customs of the Jewish community here, that had died out after many centuries of neglect and suppression, is slowly making a comeback, as Kaifeng remembers its colorful, multicultural past.

The Jewish Synagogue (Youtai jiaotang) of Kaifeng was first built towards the end of the Southern Song Dynasty (960-1127 AD) by the Jewish immigrants’ resident in the city. The earliest record of the synagogue in the west was in the late sixteenth century, when it was discovered that the building contained all five books of Moses, written in scroll form and, at that time, over 500 years old. The Synagogue was repeatedly damaged and rebuilt before it was finally destroyed by a huge Yellow River flood in 1850. The flood did more than just destroy the temple however, since many of the Jewish community themselves were killed. The synagogue was never rebuilt due to a variety of circumstances, all related to the flood, including a lack of funding, a lack of integrated community and a dying out of religious beliefs. The synagogue is now almost unrecognizable, a part of Kaifeng’s No.4 hospital. The only relic still in place is an old, iron covered well that still contains water.

Nowadays relics of the Jewish past are few in Kaifeng, since many have been removed abroad for preservation. There are however a few sights worth visiting for the true believer, including a visit to the Museum (Kaifeng bowuguan) on Yingbin Lu, where a few steles (from 1469, 1512, and 1679), a seventh century drawing of the synagogue and a photographic exhibition are still kept within. Several articles from the synagogue can also still be found in the local Eastern Grand Mosque (Dongda si), including the original blue tile roofing of the building.

Address: On the corner of Beixing tujie and Pingfang jie.
How to get there: Take Bus No.3 from the railway station to the No.4 People’s Hospital.
Cost: No cost for admission to the synagogue, but you have to find a hospital staff to show you the remains in the yard of the hospital.