EXHIBITION | Intangible Heritage: A glimpse into the story of the Shanghai refugees

Original documents provided by one of the refugees’ family members

Thousands of Macau immigrants are believed to have settled in Shanghai throughout the 19th century.  Decades later, however, most of them saw no option other than to return home after the city suffered from social and political turmoil as the second Sino-Japanese War and World War II later erupted.
The story of the Macau diaspora in Shanghai is now being told through an exhibition held at Macau’s Historical Archives on display until December 6. A series of lectures on the topic will be held while the retrospective is on display.
Portuguese historian Alfredo Gomes Dias and the Historical Archives head, Ms Lau Fong, came up with the idea to create an exhibition showcasing documents and records available at the archives to illustrate the Macau immigrants’ path in Shanghai.
“I completed my PhD thesis two years ago on the Macau diaspora. I hadn’t explored the topic of the Macau diaspora in Shanghai further through my thesis and talking to Ms Lau Fong we realized there was quite a large document collection about it here,” Mr Gomes Dias told reporters this week on the sidelines of the inauguration ceremony.
The Cultural Affairs Bureau (IC) president, Ung Vai Meng, recalled that the exhibition looks at Macau immigrants in Shanghai from two different angles.
“One reflects upon the Macau diaspora in Shanghai; how they returned and how they then left Macau heading for other destinations,” he said.
Mr Ung added that, “the other angle is presented by introducing a personal story of one of the Shanghai refugees. We have photos and documents of Ms Clementina Fernandes, and we are able to learn more about Macau’s history through the eyes of her family.”

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Alfredo Dias

In addition to Ms Clementina’s documents and photos, which were borrowed for the exhibition from her daughter Maria Teresa Véstia, there are nearly 100 records available at the archives to document the background of the Macau diaspora, and in particular the adaptation process that Macau people endured when returning home from Shanghai.
Mr Gomes Dias acknowledged that it is difficult to determine the exact number of Macau people who immigrated to Shanghai back then.
“What we have based on records from the Portuguese embassy in Shanghai suggests that between 1880 and 1952 there were 5,600 names of Portuguese nationals who were or had been in Shanghai,” he said, adding that estimations suggest that there were around 3,000 from Macau living there.
When the city opened up to foreign trade in the 19th century, the British, who were already active in Hong Kong, took the chance to establish a settlement in Shanghai. Some Macau people who had already been working for British companies in Hong Kong eventually left to work and live there too.
The second Sino-Japanese war, World War II and the growth of the Chinese Communist Party, left many, if almost all, Macau people with little choice but to return home. However, Mr Gomes Dias recalled that a small city like Macau couldn’t  possibly accommodate all of them, and many chose to trail the immigration path again.
“I estimate that about 2,000 returned from Shanghai to Macau, although they did not all return at the same time (…) Very few remained in Macau. Many immigrated again, choosing mainly the US and Brazil, but also Australia,” he told reporters.