The Wandering Jews with Trudy Gold

The Jews of China

The presence of a community of Jewish immigrants in China arguably began sometime in the Song Dynasty though a number of scholars have argued for their presence there in earlier Tang dynasty times. In the 9th century, the Persian geographer Ibn Khordadbeh noted the travels of Jewish merchants called Radhanites, whose trade took them to China via the Silk Road through Central Asia and India.

Jews have lived in Kaifeng, a city in central China’s Henan province, for over 1,000 years. This makes the Kaifeng Jews the oldest Jewish community in China.