Home»China Urban Planning materials 中国近代城市化图片资料»Christian churches in China

This is a "working collection" of photographs of churches in China which I have come across during my travels in the country. There are of course many such places both in urban and rural settings, and it should not come as a surprise that the architectural styles & designs are highly diverse & distinct.

The time span in which these images were taken is rather broad: the earliest date back to 1986, while the most recent ones register as of December 2009. Only on two occasions was it possible to visit the interior - in some instances outside (=foreign) visitors are not allowed or welcome, in (most) other instances the premises are simply locked and only open for limited hours during the week.

It is evident that some major (and readily accessible) churches are absent from this presentation, but I hope that this small gallery may be of use to
a) those studying the revival of Christianity in China;

b) those who look at the integration of western architectural elements into the modern Chinese cityscape;

c) those who are interested in the aspects of preservation of cultural heritage sites in China.

The sites represented here are situated in the following cities:
- Shanghai
- Tianjin
- Fuzhou (Fujian province)
- Yandang Mountains (Fujian province)
- Shantou (Guangdong province)
- Ningbo (Zhejiang province)
- Wenzhou (Zhejiang province)
- Wuhan (Hubei province)
- Luoyang (Henan province)
- Pingyao (Shanxi province)
- Zhengding (Hebei province)
- Qingyan (Guizhou Province)
- Suzhou (Jiangsu province)
- Handan (Hebei province)
- Weixian (Hebei province)
- Daming (Hebei province)

Thomas H. Hahn
Ithaca, January 31, 2010