Eric's Beijing Diary

I went to St. Andrew's Church this morning. I discovered this church by accident three years ago when I was looking for the CLC bookstore, which does not have a sign out in front. St. Andrew's is an old Anglican church, built at the beginning of the 20th Century, when Nathan Road was a dirt track. It was taken over by the Japanese after the Battle of Hong Kong, and used as a makeshift Buddhist temple. Fortunately, the original structure was not altered by the Japanese, so it was fairly easy to restore it to it's original use after the war. Under the "one country, two systems" policy, religion in Hong Kong is not governed by the Beijing government. There is no Religious Affairs Bureau in Hong Kong, and no Three Self Patriotic Movement. So churches in Hong Kong function pretty much the way they do in any western country. I have mixed feelings about this, actually. I'm sure it's nice for the church people of Hong Kong not to have the government breathing down their necks. But the house churches in China are also quite independent. And even the Three Self Church I go to has quite a bit of latitude to do what they want (provided it is done by Chinese nationals, as discussed previously in this blog). And since Christianity is not a status religion on China, there is a purity and singleness of purpose that I find lacking in many churches in the West.

I am staying the Mt. Davis Youth Hostel again. That's where I stayed last November. It's convenient because of the free shuttle from the Shun Tak Center at the Shueng Wan MTR station. Otherwise, it would be a very inconvenient place to stay, because it's up on top of Mt. Davis. I suppose it's about a half hour to forty minute ride, but the shuttle driver drives like a mad man, so it only takes about 15 to 20 minutes. Really convenient. Pretty nice view of the bay from up here too.