Shanghai in the 1920's and 30's - a city of almost three and a half million people.
Shanghai is the commercial metropolis of the Orient.
No visa required. By early 1939, what has been a trickle of Jewish refugees into Shanghai from Europe has become a steady stream, with around 1,000 new arrivals each month. After Italy enters the war in June 1940 and it is no longer possible to reach Shanghai by boat from Europe, alternative routes are sought. Many travel by train across Russia and Siberia to Vladivostok, and from there by sea, via Japan, to Shanghai - until Hitler's invasion of the Soviet Union in June 1941. By December, Shanghai is home to some 25,000 Jews.