First of all, you can clearly feel the Marian influences in the design of the chancel for all five churches, especially the center fresco behind the alter.
Long Chinese scrolls and couplets are used for the decorations. All the churches all have a long nave and a chancel with transept.
Something the churches have in common these days is renovation work of various kinds, including a much needed overhaul in all the restroom facilities, for the upcoming Olympics in 2008.
Other than the on-going Sino-Vatican relationship problem, I see that the Chinese Catholic Church faces a serious pastoral challenge in serving the fast-changing demographics. No new churches exist near where I live at the corner of the Tsinghua University. This HaiDian district changed from farm land to many high rises in the last 20 years. People have to travel 1 hour to get to all these old churches, with exception of the West Church. It takes 40 minutes to get to West Church. New churches are needed in the outskirts (3rd, 4th, 5th Ring Road) of Beijing. Except for the West Church, which is on the 3rd ring road, all others are along or inside the 2nd ring road. This infrastructure is for the needs of 1950's. Land is a scarce resource in Beijing now, and it is difficult to build new churches to meet the needs of the faithful, even assuming that the civil authorities are cooperating.
Now, let's look at the five churches and their pictures.
[East Church]This church is situated on a beautiful plaza and is in the middle of the most affluent shopping district, WangFuJing, in Beijing.
[North Church]
The liturgy of this church is quite vibrant. This is the only one that is not close to any subway station, and thus is less accessible. It is at the bend of a long alleyway, and it is not easy to find. You have to get help or show the taxi driver the Chinese address in order to get there.
[West Church] This church needed the most attention in terms of renovation when I visited in 2006. And lo and behold, this one is being rebuilt now as we speak. I was told that this would be a beautiful church when it is done, with liturgical design help and financial support from churches in Hong Kong and other places.
I did not take a picture in 2006 and now can only offer a wall inside the construction site, which has the design that would be repeated for the interior of the new church.
[South Church]
The parishioners also refer to this as the South Cathedral since the it is the seat of the Beijing Diocese.
There is a huge, vibrant international community that draws English-speaking and French-speaking worshipers. The faithful come from Southeastern Asian countries and from as far away as Africa. This church draws curious non-Catholics to see English services.
The Sunday readings are available from the following two URLs: English readings and French readings.
[St. Michael's Church]
This church is situated in the old (Qing Dynasty) diplomatic district and it is not too well-known these days. This is a secret hideout for me to attend mass. I like its schedule on 6 p.m. Sunday. This church was my favorite for some time.
(If you have trouble reading the Chinese characters, try to "View" this page with encodings such as Windows-1252, Simplified Chinese GB18030, and Simplified Chinese GB2312.)
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| 北京天主教堂 | Catholic Churches in Beijing | |||||||
| Last Update: November 30, 2007 | ||||||||
| 南堂 | 北京宣武门 前门西大街 114 号 | North 39.53.951 East 116.22.162 | ||||||
| South Church | 141 Qianmen XiDaJie, XuanWuMen, Beijing 100031 | |||||||
| (Nan Tang) | (10) 6602-6538 | |||||||
| Monday to Friday Masses | ||||||||
| 6:00 am (Latin), 6:30 am (Chinese), 7:15 am (Chinese) | ||||||||
| Saturday Mass: 6:30 pm (Chinese) | ||||||||
| Sunday Masses: 6:00 am (Latin), 7:00 am (Chinese), 8:30 am (Chinese), | ||||||||
| 10:00 am (English), 4:00 pm (English) | ||||||||
| Bus 47, or Subway XuanWuMen (宣武门) stop, Exit B | ||||||||
| 北堂 | 北京西城区 西什库大街 33 号 | North 39.55.421 East 116.22.353 | ||||||
| North Church | 33 XiShiKu DaJie, XiCheng Qu, Beijing | |||||||
| (Bei Tang) | (10) 6617-5198 | |||||||
| Monday to Saturday Masses | ||||||||
| 6:00 am, 7:00 am | ||||||||
| Sunday Masses: 6:00 am, 7:00 am, 8:00 am, 10:00 am, 6:00 pm | ||||||||
| Bus 690 GangWaShi (缸瓦市）stop, walk 10 minutes | ||||||||
| 东堂 | 北京王府井 天主教堂 74号 | North 39.54.950 East 116.24.340 | ||||||
| East Church | 74 TianZhuJiaoTang, WangFuJing, Beijing | |||||||
| (Dong Tang) | (10) 6524-0634 | |||||||
| Monday to Saturday Masses | ||||||||
| 6:00 am (Chinese), 7:00 am (Chinese) | ||||||||
| Sunday Masses | ||||||||
| 6:00 am (Latin), 7:00 am (Chinese), 8:00 am (Chinese) | ||||||||
| Subway WangFuJing（王府井）stop, walk 10 minutes | ||||||||
| 西堂 | 北京西城区 西直门内大街 130 号 | |||||||
| West Church | 130 XiZhiMen NeiDaJie, XiCheng Qu, Beijing | |||||||
| (Xi Tang) | (10) 6615-6619 | |||||||
| Monday to Thursday Mass: 6:30 am, Friday Mass: 6:30 pm | ||||||||
| Saturday Masses: 7:00 am, 6:30 pm | ||||||||
| Sunday Mass: 8:00 am | ||||||||
| Bus 690 JiShuiTan Bridge South(积水谭桥南）stop, walk 10 minutes | ||||||||
| Subway XiZhiMen (西直门）stop, walk 15 minutes | ||||||||
| 东交民巷堂 | (Dong Jiao Min Xiang Tang) | |||||||
| St. Michael's Church | 北京东城区 东交民巷 甲13 号 | |||||||
| 13-A DongJiaoMinXiang, DongCheng Qu, Beijing | ||||||||
| (10) 6513-5170 | ||||||||
| Monday to Saturday Masses: 6:30 am, 7:00 am | ||||||||
| Sunday Masses: 7:00 am, 8:00 am, 6:00 pm | ||||||||
| Subway ChongWunMen (崇文门）stop, walk 15 minutes | ||||||||
