Good on him. If it were ever translated into English I would like a copy.
Here's a bit about how he became interested in Jewish coins and writing the book:
Xu Long was riding his bicycle on one of Beijing’s streets when he spotted a foreigner and stopped to ask the man if he spoke French. The foreigner was Albert Kalifa, an Israeli studying Chinese medicine in Beijing, Algerian by birth and fluent in French.
“He asked me if I would like to teach him French and I said, ‘Why not,’ Kalifa says in a telephone interview from his home in Kibbutz Nir Eliahu. “We met every day for French lessons for about half a year and he taught me about Chinese customs and way of life.”
Kalifa knew of Xu Long’s interest in coins and gave him a few Israeli coins.
“This aroused a great curiosity in him about Jewish customs and life and he asked many questions. He was insatiable for information about Israel and Judaism,” says Kalifa. “During his first visit to Israel, he wanted to see every spot that appears on Israeli paper money and coins. We went to off-the-beaten-track places like Gymnasia Herzliya, Mikve Yisrael, Beit Bialik, anything connected with coins. He must have taken about 10,000 photos.
“When he travels in the world he also seeks Jewish sites. In Tehran he got a special permit to visit a synagogue.
In Rome he went to the Arch of Titus. In Paris he went to a Jewish museum. On this trip he wanted to see a pidyon haben ceremony, Kiddush and a circumcision ceremony, all events that appear on coins. It’s unbelievable what he accomplished. A person who doesn’t know anything about the history of the Jewish people can learn about it just from reading his book.”
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Gary
Here's a bit about how he became interested in Jewish coins and writing the book:
Xu Long was riding his bicycle on one of Beijing’s streets when he spotted a foreigner and stopped to ask the man if he spoke French. The foreigner was Albert Kalifa, an Israeli studying Chinese medicine in Beijing, Algerian by birth and fluent in French.
“He asked me if I would like to teach him French and I said, ‘Why not,’ Kalifa says in a telephone interview from his home in Kibbutz Nir Eliahu. “We met every day for French lessons for about half a year and he taught me about Chinese customs and way of life.”
Kalifa knew of Xu Long’s interest in coins and gave him a few Israeli coins.
“This aroused a great curiosity in him about Jewish customs and life and he asked many questions. He was insatiable for information about Israel and Judaism,” says Kalifa. “During his first visit to Israel, he wanted to see every spot that appears on Israeli paper money and coins. We went to off-the-beaten-track places like Gymnasia Herzliya, Mikve Yisrael, Beit Bialik, anything connected with coins. He must have taken about 10,000 photos.
“When he travels in the world he also seeks Jewish sites. In Tehran he got a special permit to visit a synagogue.
In Rome he went to the Arch of Titus. In Paris he went to a Jewish museum. On this trip he wanted to see a pidyon haben ceremony, Kiddush and a circumcision ceremony, all events that appear on coins. It’s unbelievable what he accomplished. A person who doesn’t know anything about the history of the Jewish people can learn about it just from reading his book.”
http://www.coinbooks.org/esylum_v14n12a03.html