The Ancient Jews of Kaifeng, China
(Drawing of the Ancient mikvah i.e. community ritual bath, in Kaifeng) 
About 1000 years ago, Jewish traders from the Middle East, probably Persia , made their way Eastward along the Silk Road to China . They settled in what was then the Capital City of China during the Northern Song Dynasty, the City of Kaifeng , in what is now Henan Province in North Central China. As they were favoured by the Emperor, the population grew to about 5,000, but through assimilation and conversion to Confucionism (due to its being the key to government positions) they nearly disappeared around 500 years ago. However, there are still some families left who trace their roots back to those original settlers. The existing Kaifeng Jews are a racial mix of Caucasian and Oriental, by appearance Asian.
(The Silk Road - it ended up at Chang An a/k/a Xi'an)
For the past 6 years I have been living in the outskirts of Zhengzhou , in Henan Province . A couple of years ago on another news website I discovered an American who was teaching in Kaifeng , which is only an hour's bus ride from where I live. My wife and I went to Kaifeng , met with Ed and his Chinese wife Ju-An, and discovered that we had much in common, becoming good friends. Our wives, both being Chinese also formed a very close relationship. (Previously on Newstalkers I posted a photo-article about a trip to Luoyang we took with Ed and Ju-An to see the Peony Festival and White Horse Temple.) Ed took us to the location which is the centre of where the Kaifeng Jews gathered. There was a makeshift museum there on a laneway called Teaching the Torah Lane , with a small Ark and Torah, along with many photos, paintings, drawings and artifacts.
Many of the original documents from Kaifeng are located at the Hebrew Union College in Cincinnati, Ohio , and I recall having seen some of them when I visited there many years ago. It is my intention to see if I can arrange for copies of those documents to be sent back to Kaifeng . Besides the museum, there is also a location that the Kaifeng Jews use as a synagogue, where they hold Sabbath services on Friday evenings and High Holiday celebrations. Ed and I took part in one of their services, followed by a Sabbath meal served to the small congregation and to us and our wives, consisting mainly of Chinese food (which is a typical alternative Jewish meal back in America ). Because Judaism is not one of the religions registered with the Chinese government, the services and location of the synagogue are not publicized.
(My wife is standing beside aplan of the Ancient Jewish Temple) 
There have been other Jewish communities in China , more recent than this one. In Harbin , there is a temple that is kept as a museum and a cemetery. It was settled mostly by Russian Jews who moved there to escape from the Russian pogroms. The grandfather of Ehud Olmert, (recently a president of Israel) , is buried there.
(In the museum, Guo Yan a/k/a Esther showing me a book about the history of the Kaifeng Jews)
Another location was Shanghai which had a small community for many years, grew quickly because it did not require visas for immigration, due to Jews escaping from the Nazis in Europe during the 1930s. When the Japanese conquered Shanghai during WW2, they protected the Jews even though their ally Hitler asked them to eliminate them. They did not follow that directive mainly because they could not understand why anyone should be killed because of their religion. Although there is a museum synagogue there as well, there is not much of a remaining community, same as in Harbin .
(Esther, a Kaifeng Jew, displaying the Torah at the Ark in the museum) (By the way, she sings the Sh'ma beautifully.)
There are also Jewish communities in Hong Kong and Beijing , but I dont know much about them. It was the Kaifeng Jews who were the settlers in ancient times. Today, although it is not at all often that the Chinese people get to know Jewish people (called "youtai"), the Chinese when asked what they know about them say that they are smart and know how to make money, which are qualities that earns great respect among the Chinese.
(The Torah in the Kaifeng Museum Ark - I pointed out to Esther that it was inserted in the cover upside down.)
Here are some links for more information about the Kaifeng Jews. Some of the facts don't exactly coincide with what I have written but pretty well every history of them is slightly different.
http://www.aish.com/jw/s/48937262.html .
http://www.jewish-holiday.com/kaifeng.html
http://travel.nytimes.com/2010/04/04/travel/04journeys.html?pagewanted=2
(The Ms. Guo referred to in the last link is Guo Yan, a/k/a Esther in my photos in my article).
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