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A review by martyfried
Last Boat Out of Shanghai: The Epic Story of the Chinese Who Fled Mao's Revolution by Helen Zia
4.0
This was an interesting read about Shanghai, Taiwan, Hong Kong, etc during and after WW2. It focuses on a few different people's lives and how they were affected, but they are partly symbolic for a large number of people.
Shanghai was probably the most (only?) modern city in China before the Japanese took over. It was like the roaring 20s there. Actually, I guess it pretty much was the roaring 20s. Lots of rich people going out dancing and drinking, and a lot of Westerners living in their own sections.
The Japanese didn't mess around with them too much, especially not the Europeans, but it was still pretty bad for the common Chinese there. It actually seemed to get worse when the Japanese lost, and the Nationalists took over with the Communist invaders getting closer. The Nationalists were pretty worn out when they arrived after fighting the Japanese, and they took over whatever houses they wanted. They punished a lot of Chinese who had suffered under Japanese rule for cooperating with the Japanese when all they were doing was trying to keep out of trouble and stay alive.
Then, as the Communists got closer, the Nationalist leaders started abandoning the city for Taiwan while urging the army to fight to the end. They never had a chance, and the Communists took over, and of course, punished the poor Chinese for cooperating with the Nationalists. As the Communists invaded, a lot of citizens managed to escape to Taiwan or Hong Kong, often with very little to their name. They didn't want to live in Taiwan, which they considered too backward, or Hong Kong, which was remote with nothing to do. But they couldn't stay in Shanghai which was being continuously bombed by the Nationalists in Taiwan, and they were afraid of the Communists. Plus, they thought it would only be for a short time. Unfortunately, the US didn't want to continue to support them.
Once in Taiwan, a lot of them were suspected of being Communist supporters. And there weren't enough jobs or housing, so life was really bad. Some moved on to Hong Kong, which wasn't much better, and some managed to get to the US for college. But of course, the US had Joe McCarthy looking for communists everywhere, especially in the Chinese immigrants, and the US citizens didn't think very highly of any Asians after the war against Japan. They didn't really know the difference between Japanese, Chinese, or Korean.
It was a pretty sad story most of the time. It's interesting to learn about how hard it was to leave their country and come here with nothing, and makes me think about the current immigrants from countries that are run by dictators, etc, who come here and are discriminated against, can't get jobs, etc. A lot of these Chinese were very educated and smart, yet the Communists thought they and other educated people were evil rich people who stole from the common workers, so they were punished, often harshly. It was a really stupid thing from them to do, but hard-core ideologies often don't act in their own self-interests.
Shanghai was probably the most (only?) modern city in China before the Japanese took over. It was like the roaring 20s there. Actually, I guess it pretty much was the roaring 20s. Lots of rich people going out dancing and drinking, and a lot of Westerners living in their own sections.
The Japanese didn't mess around with them too much, especially not the Europeans, but it was still pretty bad for the common Chinese there. It actually seemed to get worse when the Japanese lost, and the Nationalists took over with the Communist invaders getting closer. The Nationalists were pretty worn out when they arrived after fighting the Japanese, and they took over whatever houses they wanted. They punished a lot of Chinese who had suffered under Japanese rule for cooperating with the Japanese when all they were doing was trying to keep out of trouble and stay alive.
Then, as the Communists got closer, the Nationalist leaders started abandoning the city for Taiwan while urging the army to fight to the end. They never had a chance, and the Communists took over, and of course, punished the poor Chinese for cooperating with the Nationalists. As the Communists invaded, a lot of citizens managed to escape to Taiwan or Hong Kong, often with very little to their name. They didn't want to live in Taiwan, which they considered too backward, or Hong Kong, which was remote with nothing to do. But they couldn't stay in Shanghai which was being continuously bombed by the Nationalists in Taiwan, and they were afraid of the Communists. Plus, they thought it would only be for a short time. Unfortunately, the US didn't want to continue to support them.
Once in Taiwan, a lot of them were suspected of being Communist supporters. And there weren't enough jobs or housing, so life was really bad. Some moved on to Hong Kong, which wasn't much better, and some managed to get to the US for college. But of course, the US had Joe McCarthy looking for communists everywhere, especially in the Chinese immigrants, and the US citizens didn't think very highly of any Asians after the war against Japan. They didn't really know the difference between Japanese, Chinese, or Korean.
It was a pretty sad story most of the time. It's interesting to learn about how hard it was to leave their country and come here with nothing, and makes me think about the current immigrants from countries that are run by dictators, etc, who come here and are discriminated against, can't get jobs, etc. A lot of these Chinese were very educated and smart, yet the Communists thought they and other educated people were evil rich people who stole from the common workers, so they were punished, often harshly. It was a really stupid thing from them to do, but hard-core ideologies often don't act in their own self-interests.