The symposium will take place from 2 to 4:30 p.m. in Northridge's Oviatt Library Presentation room located in the lower level of the west wing of the library at 18111 Nordhoff St. in Northridge.

The five Shanghai Jiao Tong University delegates--including Shanghai Jiao Tong University president Ye Quyuan--will discuss China's role as a place of refuge for the Old China Hands, Jewish media in Shanghai, the Jewish image in Shanghai, among other issues.

"We view this as an exciting opportunity to widen our contacts with the great country of China, which provided refuge for many displaced Europeans, particularly Jews, during the Second World War, and a country in which there is newly awakened academic and popular interest in the history of people of other cultures who were formerly residents of China," said Robert Gohstand, professor emeritus of Northridge's geography department and event coordinator.

The term "Old China Hands" is applied to people who lived in China before the communist revolution in 1949 and who were not of Chinese ethnicity. After the revolution, the then newly established Chinese communist government expelled the residents. Many of the Old China Hands fled to the U.S., with some landing in California.

Earlier that day, the delegates who are taking part in a five-day cultural exchange will tour the Northridge campus and meet with CSUN President Jolene Koester. An introduction to "Old China Hands" archive, consisting of memorabilia and papers from Old China Hands, is scheduled as part of the tour, from 4:30 to 6 p.m. in the Oviatt Library. The exhibit will be displayed until the end of August.

"This event will help to reveal the role of Old China Hands in changing China over the past century and China's commendable role in sheltering refugees from Nazi and Soviet persecution," said Gohstand, who also is director of the Old China Hands Archive.

For more information about the cultural exchange call Robert Gohstand at 818-677-4137. For more information about the Old China Hands exhibit, visit the Web site at http://library.csun.edu/oldchinahands/.