James G Ling

Shanghai Occupied James G Ling

Building forts, excursions to the park, enduring art and music lessons with his buddies formed the fabric of Jim Ling's early childhood in the glittering, vibrant, multi-cultural international enclave of 1930s Shanghai - renowned as the "Paris of the Orient." Then came 1937 and the invasion of China by Japanese armed forces. The only child of a Chinese father and an American mother, Jim's life took a sudden turn. His father moved inland with the Kuomintang government. Jim stayed in Shanghai with his mother who supported herself, her son and a handful of servants by operating a small handicraft and antiques shop near the city's famed Bund. After the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor, their forces took over Shanghai's International Settlement. Avoiding being interned in the concentration camps for American and British civilians, attending Japanese controlled schools, coping with food shortages, and joining an underground Boy Scout troop formed the substance of Jim's new day-to-day existence. Shanghai Occupied is the first-hand account of life in a war-torn occupied city as seen through the eyes of a young boy. In it, Jim shares his memories of survival under Japanese occupation, post-war encounters with American sailors on shore leave and his own eventual departure for America.