On May 9, Shanghai's Russian community gathered in the St Nicholas Church on 16 Gaolan Road, for a special Victory Day service. Built in 1934, the Orthodox church was once used as a washing machine factory and later hosted a French restaurant, Ashanti Dome, on the upper floor, and a Spanish tapas bar on the ground floor called Boca. During the Cultural Revolution which sought to destroy the ‘four olds’ (old customs, old habits, old culture and old thinking), public worship was prohibited but quick-thinking believers of various religions posted images of Mao over their places of worship to prevent overzealous Red Guards from bursting in to destroy the buildings. The St Nicholas Church was one of such buildings -- and the image of Mao kept watch over the building until it was taken down in the early 2000s. According to zinka who shared these pictures with us, the Russian community rented the church for this special event (note the worshippers standing under the disco ball), and it still remains unclear if and when the building will be converted back into a church. more ›

Last week on January 7, believers in the Eastern Orthodox faith in Yining, Xinjiang were given permission to celebrate the Nativity Feast (ie., the Christmas of the Orthodox calendar) in the St Nicholas Church of Ghulja with priests specially flown in from Kazakhstan for the occasion. Destroyed during the Chinese Cultural Revolution, the church was rebuilt by the local government in 2000 in a different location (no doubt a far cry from its former glory). This was the first public service conducted in the church since the building was consecrated in March 2003. While China has its own state-approved churches for Protestants and Catholics, the Orthodox faith is not officially recognised by the government here, even though Orthodox believers are now given more freedom than before to practise their faith. The Orthodox church officially recognises 222 Albazinians (one of several groups of Chinese people of Russian descent) who died during the Boxer Rebellion as "Holy Martyrs of China" (not to be confused with the 120 "Martyr Saints of China" canonised by the Catholic Church). The official website of the Orthodox Fellowship of All Saints of China has collated some interesting accounts of the Holy Martyrs here. more ›

Photo from gruntzooki more ›