Chinese and Jewish

This past July I met Xiaoming Jiao, who was a surprise attendee at a San Francisco Bay Area Jewish Genealogy Society meeting.  She is Chinese, so of course she immediately attracted attention and queries.  She told us her great-great-grandfather was Jewish and she wanted to learn about that part of her ancestry.  We welcomed her to the meeting, and several people suggested resources for her research.  Since then she has been exploring some of those resources and has jumped head-first into Chinese-Jewish relations, and we have been communicating regularly.

Recently she suggested her mother have a DNA test done.  The results were not what she expected, and while we were discussing them she asked if I would be a guest on her blog and talk about some possible reasons.  I was happy to do so, and she has posted my initial thoughts on the situation.

Xiaoming's discoveries highlight a basic truth of genealogy:  You can't guarantee what you're going to find when you start looking, but you need to know where to start.  Groups (like SFBAJGS), organizations (like Family History Centers), and people (like me) can give you ideas on where to start digging.   Xiaoming's puzzle is far from complete, and she isn't sure what the full picture will look like, but piece by piece it will come into focus.