The Old China Hands Unpublished Manuscripts Collection consists of unpublished works, primarily autobiographical and biographical, about people who lived and worked in China between the mid-19th century and the establishment of the People's Republic of China in 1949. Shanghai is the most frequently mentioned location, though Tientsin, Tsingtao, Harbin, Peitaiho, Peking, and Chefoo are also mentioned. Many of the writings chronicle experiences of Jewish families moving to China from Germany, Iraq, Austria, Poland, or Russia. Other individuals had ancestral connections to British, American, Danish, and Russian families.

The manuscripts include both childhood and adult perspectives. Children's stories about schooling include descriptions of time as a student at the Shanghai Municipal Council Western District Public School and the Shanghai Jewish School. The earliest family account documents the Mills, a 19th century Presbyterian missionary family, while the majority of the writing recounts experiences from the first half of the 20th century. These include accounts of service in the United States Air Force and Foreign Service, and World War II internment experiences in Chapei and Pootung Camps. The United States Marines are central to the biography of Arthur Liu, an orphaned child adopted as a mascot by the Marines. Manuscripts are arranged alphabetically by the author's surname.