Armenians in China

[5] Alans and Armenians were in China during the Yuan dynasty, converted to Catholicism at the turn of the 14th century by John of Montecorvino.

[8] In 1318, Quanzhou's bishop, Peregrine of Castello, reported an Armenian woman gave the Franciscans a church and house.

In World War II, the Armenians joined the Chinese and Koreans, and later, the Americans and British forces, against Japanese invasion.

Since all religions were targeted by the Cultural Revolution, many churches and houses were destroyed, and most Armenians fled to Soviet Union's Central Asia or India.

A limited number of Armenians settled in Manchuria during the construction of the Chinese Eastern Railway (KVZHD), undertaken by Imperial Russia in 1898.

The Armenian National Organization was headed by the Board of Directors, whose president for many years was Dr. C. G. Migdisov, along with Mr. Ter-Ovakimov, an engineer with the KVZHD and Nr.

One of the main tasks of the Armenian Organization was to solve the problems of assistance to the needy members, such as the elderly, the poor, the orphans and generally all those who needed one or another kind of help in co-operation with Ladies Aid Group.

The Board organized social events, staged national and literary plays, which were performed by the youth group in Armenian.

Ghazarian, a building adjacent to the church was enlarged and renovated, thanks to the financial backing of large contributors and businessmen.

Assoghig Ghazarian, who during World War II ended up in the concentration camp for British and American citizens in the city of Mukden, returned to Jerusalem and the Armenian Church once again was without a pastor.

In 1959, the building of the Armenian Church changed hands and became the property of the Chinese Government, which in turn used it for a textile factory.

[13] Its purpose was twofold: first, it helped refugees get settled in their new surroundings, but it then served as a meeting place for like-minded people to gather and swap stories.

[14] Following the Communist takeover in 1949, most of the Armenians left China (mainly for San Francisco) and the community ended up being only 50 strong.

[16] For most of the second half of the 20th century, Hong Kong was a natural trading hub for many Armenians from all around the world and a small community was always present.

There are currently around 500 individuals living mainly across the cities of Beijing, Shanghai, Nanjing, Guangzhou, Shenzhen and Hong Kong.