Li Hong’s father used to wedge his Bible into a thick mat so it wouldn’t be confiscated. That was during the Cultural Revolution from 1966 to 1976, when all religions were suppressed, she said.
　　Under severe coercion to abandon his faith, the senior Li, now 81, had a mental breakdown. But one day at breakfast, a window fell off a building and hit his head, an accident that he said “awakened” him. From then on he adopted a positive attitude toward life, a mindset that helped him to pull through the difficult times.
　　“It was a miracle,” Li Hong said. “God wanted to give my father a lesson to love his enemies.”
　　The middle-aged woman, a practicing Christian herself, was raised in the faith in Qingdao, Shandong Province. Her grandfather was a missionary. According to Li, only her father holds such acutely painful memories related to Christian beliefs.
　　Since China adopted its reform and opening-up policies in the late 1970s, the situation facing Christians and other religious people has been improving, as “religious freedom,” a concept long enshrined in the Constitution, is put into practice. What’s more, Christian services are attracting an increasing number of believers.
　　Li works at state-sanctioned Jiangsulu Church in Qingdao. On a recent Sunday morning in May, she busily helped coordinate a wedding to be held in the beautiful old Protestant church, a popular venue for wedding ceremonies. In May alone, weddings are scheduled for each Sunday, with four couples to be married on the busiest day.
　　
　　An open-door church
　　
　　Jiangsulu Church stands on Jiangsulu (Jiangsu Road) in the south of Qingdao, a port city of over 8 million people on China’s eastern coast, roughly midway between Beijing and Shanghai.
　　Designed by a German architect and modeled on medieval castles, with granite arches and rough, thick walls, construction on the church began in 1908 and was completed two years later. In 1992, Jiangsulu Church was listed as a historical site under provincial government protection.
　　Since 1999, the church has welcomed tourists. “Apart from offering religious services, the church is a popular tourist destination in the city, receiving visitors from home and abroad,” said Dong Yanliang, President of the Qingdao Christian Council who occasionally gives sermons in Jiangsulu Church. “It is the first church to be opened to tourists in China.”
　　According to Dong, Jiangsulu Church had an identical twin in Germany that was destroyed during World War II. “Given this, it is even more precious and attractive to visitors,” he said.
　　In its early days, there were no buildings surrounding the church, said Dong. Perched on a small hill in the old city center and facing the sea to the south, the church was carefully situated at a vantage point for the area. However, the sea view disappeared as the city grew.
　　The church is 1,300 square meters in total floor area with a seating capacity of 1,400. On top of the 36-meter-high bell tower there is a huge clock. As clocks were rare in China in the old days, nearby residents relied on the clock to check the time, Dong recalled. The church is therefore known as the “clock tower” among locals.
　　From its hilltop location, Jiangsulu Church witnessed the modern development of Christianity in Qingdao.
　　Germans occupied the coastal city in 1897, and in the early 20th century, Qingdao was under colonial rule. As the city’s governor was a member of the German Lutheran Church, he ordered a church to be built for German Christians. During the years that followed, the governor and German elites often held gatherings at Jiangsulu Church. After Germany was defeated in World War I, the church was sold for $40,000 to the Americans, who converted it into an “international church” open to all foreigners in Qingdao.
　　The church closed after the People’s Republic of China was founded in 1949. During the Cultural Revolution, it became part of a medical college and was severely damaged. The stained glass windows of the central hall were destroyed. The baptismal basin on the left of the platform and the pipe organ on the second floor are nonexistent today.
　　In 1979, the church was handed over to the Qingdao Christian Council. The council undertook a major renovation the next year, during which time the interior walls were repainted, lights repaired and pews added.
　　The church resumed religious services in November 1980. It was the first church to be reopened in Shandong Province after the Cultural Revolution. “Over 500 believers attended the service,” said Dong. “Many of them got emotional, with tears in their eyes.”
　　
　　‘Nice people’
　　
　　‘I DO:’ Known for its architecture, influenced by medieval castles and unusual in China, Jiangsulu Church frequently plays host to wedding ceremonies
　　According to Dong, there are about 60,000 practicing Protestants in Qingdao today, from teachers and doctors to entrepreneurs and managers, and the number is growing by 2,000 annually.
　　Dong said that many believers, especially youths, are from Christian families. They follow Jesus as a family tradition. Influence from the West is also having an effect, he added. With the quick spread of information through various forms of media, the Chinese have easier access to Western culture. They also have more frequent individual contact with Christians from abroad.
　　Moreover, with China’s economy revving up and the quality of life of urban Chinese improving, people have a growing desire for a spiritual pursuit. Many come to faith in Jesus in the hope of improving themselves, Dong added.
　　Miao Shuyuan, a retired worker, is a regular parishioner at Jiangsulu Church. She began to be interested in Jesus in the late 1970s as the Cultural Revolution drew to an end. “I don’t like turmoil,” she said. “I like peace and stability.”
　　She started reading a copy of the Bible her neighbor lent to her, and felt overwhelmed by a sense of peace though she could not completely understand the holy book, Miao recalled. In the beginning, she didn’t go to church often, as there were not many activities available and most of the churchgoers were old people.
　　In 2000, Miao’s daughter went to study abroad and while away developed an interest in Western culture, including Christianity. She suggested her mother study Christianity seriously. With her daughter’s encouragement, Miao now regularly attends services at Jiangsulu Church.
　　Miao said she is grateful for her faith. “I had to swallow all my grievances before, but now I can pray to God,” she said. “I can find solutions to many problems in the Bible.”
　　In this officially atheistic country, Christians account for only a small proportion of the total population. Yang Bai, a woman in her 20s, is a member of the church choir.
　　To her amazement she received backing from her family, which includes atheists and other Christians. Yang said she is free to read the Bible, pray at home and attend church. “They all believe the churchgoers are nice people,” she explained.
　　According to Yang, at youth gatherings held every Friday, attendees read the Bible aloud in English while following the priest. There is even a dedicated English group in the church, where Chinese parishioners interested in English and foreign students can study the English Bible.
　　Dong, the descendant of a six-generation Christian family, said that as the church develops, Christians are exploring ways to contribute to society. For example, they donate thousands of clothing items and quilts to poverty-stricken areas in west China’s Guizhou Province each year. They are also sponsoring two primary schools and an autism rehabilitation center. Every year the church plays host to delegations from dozens of foreign countries, welcoming politicians, business people, professors and tourists.
　　Dong received his education at the East China Theological Seminary and Copenha-gen University in Denmark, and has been working with the Qingdao Christian Council since 1989.
　　He said he is deeply impressed by the changes that have taken place at Jiangsulu Church over the years. In the future, the church will be more friendly with the local community, he promised, adding that “building a well-liked church” will be a sacred mission of Jiangsulu’s clergy.
　　

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