June 2, 2013 Beijing – Roman Catholic Churches

1904June 2, 2013

Beijing – Roman Catholic Churches

Today was Sunday and a day of obligation for Dorothy and me. We decided that we should go to the oldest Catholic Church in China for mass that is the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception. The original church was built after the Emperor gave his permission in 1605. It had to be rebuilt several times because it was destroyed by fire and earthquakes. The present church is on the original site.

Our guide, Lee had kindly found on the internet that the English mass on Sunday was at 10:30 AM. Dorothy and we got a taxi well ahead of time so that we could see this very old Cathedral before the mass. We were impressed at the large number of people praying before the statue of the Immaculate Conception that was outside the Cathedral. The inside of Cathedral that was rebuilt in 1904 in the Baroque style was just beautiful. We got our seats early as the Cathedral was filling up fairly early. By the time mass was to begin, the church was full. What surprised us was the large number of young people in their late teens and early twenties that were attending mass and the majority of people at this mass were Chinese Also we were surprised that this old Cathedral had the latest flat TV screens projecting in English the Mass, the readings, hymns and psalms. There were also masses on Sunday in Chinese at 6:00 AM, 7:00 AM and 8:30 AM. At 12:30 PM there was a mass in Italian. Another English mass was at 3:00 PM. The mass we attended lasted for 1 ½ hours. We spoke to the priest after mass and he asked us where we were from and what was the name of the church in Canada that we belonged to.

After lunch Dorothy and I took a walk to the shopping area on Wangfuijing Street that is close to our hotel. We were fortunate that the old Catholic church on Wangfujing Street called St Joseph was open as they were holding first communion for some English speaking young children. We went inside to look at the church and to take some pictures. After this we had a walk on the part of Wangfujing Street that is closed to traffic and lined with small shops and large department stores. It was Sunday and the closed off street was packed with people. We did a little last minute shopping there and then came back to our hotel to pack for our trip tomorrow. We will leave Beijing at 5 PM Monday fly to Detroit and arrive in Detroit at 6:00 PM on Monday. It is nice to have such a short flight over such a long distance.

Dorothy in front of the Cathedral of the Immaculate  Conception in South Beijing.

Con in front of the stone stela that looks like the stela that was bestowed by Emperor Shunzhi  with words- built by the Imperial order that were inscribed on it.

The statues of the Immaculate Conception outside the cathedral that people were praying at.

The Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception .

Dorothy on the covered walk to the Cathedral's Adimistrative  Building.

The altar inside the Cathedral.

The Cathedral is packed with people waiting for the procession to start from the back of the cathedral for the Sunday 10:30 AM Mass.

View inside the cathedral looking towards the altar just before the mass was to start.

Dorothy in front of St Joseph's Catholic Church  on Wangfujing Street.

Young children going into St. Joseph Church for First Communion.

Children assembling at the front of St Joseph's Church for First Communion.

A man dressed in an old Chinese costume handing out flyers in front of a store on Wangfujing Street.

Dorothy looking at what to buy at a colorful store off Wangfujing Street.

Con was looking at all the e-bikes on a side street off Wangfujing Street.

Sunday shoppers on pedestrian mall on Wangfujing Street.