In April 2001, Ian Leventhal, a Jewish Canadian artist, visited a building that used to be a synagogue in the Shanghai ghetto of the second world war. There, he met a Chinese in his 80s who spoke with passion and eloquence of his Jewish friends and neighbours.
From that conversation was born the dream of saving the ghetto area from demolition and turning it into a historical, entertainment and commercial district that would attract millions of visitors from around the world every year.
Last week the dream took a giant step towards reality with the arrival in Shanghai of one of Israel's biggest developers and a US asset management company ready to invest up to US$2 billion in the project, which they aim to have completed in time for the World Expo in 2010. 'Such a project comes once in a lifetime,' said Bruce Richards, president of New York-based Marathon Asset Management, which has US$14 billion in assets. 'As an American Jew, I have the opportunity to go back to history and restore heritage for Chinese.'
Dubi Weiss, president of Tel Aviv-based Polar International Real Estate, said it was a unique opportunity for China to open a huge international door and rival cities such as Prague and Barcelona that attracted 20 million tourists a year, eight times that of Shanghai.
'Look at the reconstruction they've done in Warsaw, with 200 years - only a short history,' Mr Weiss said. 'Here we have 5,000 years. We will make the most attractive district in the world, like Epcot.' Epcot is a permanent World Fair, opened by Walt Disney in Florida in 1982.
The project covers 15 hectares over seven blocks in the Tilanqiao area of Hongkou that is home to 15,000 people, nearly all of whom will be relocated.