Sunday, April 26, 2009

China + Russia = Haerbin (Plus Easter in China)

Before I get into describing my weekend in Haerbin, I'll talk a little about my Easter in Beijing. Easter this year felt a little weird and not much like Easter at all. Signs of Christianity in Beijing are few and far between, so if it weren't for the Jesuit mission of my program, I would have never known it was Easter time. Since TBC is a Catholic Jesuit program, they organized a bus to go to mass that Sunday for whoever wanted to go. I was really curious about the church and mass because the Chinese government doesn't look too kindly upon Christianity. Some churches even require a foreign passport to enter; no Chinese citizens are allowed. The church we went to, South Cathedral, must have been government-sanctioned because they did not check our passports and there were quite a few Chinese citizens there. The mass was in English while the readings were done in English and French. It was a pretty standard mass, albeit packed and extra long. They decided that easter would be a great time to baptise, confirm, and give 1st communion to all the new Catholics. Which is great, but the mass was nearly 3 hours long. Here are some pictures:



Inside was interesting. Instead of a big crucifix above the altar, there was a giant painting of Mary surrounded with christmas lights. And each pillar had a giant projection screen with the words to songs on it.

Here you can kind of see the variety of people who came to mass.

Last weekend, we went to Haerbin, a Russian-influenced city in the north-east.

I will hopefully get a chance to write more later :). In the meantime, some fun pictures.
























3 comments:

  1. I really enjoy that everyone gets shit done to them on Easter.

    Also, the idea of a Russian-influenced city, complete with St. Basil-esque domes, is a great idea.

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  2. Sarah:

    I love your blog, your sense of humor, your artist's eye, and your writing. I hereby honor you with the Pearl S. Buck award for literature!!! (When I was young, she was my favorite writer.)

    Really, I talked to your Dad today when I called up Grandma B for Mother's day. It made me think of your blog, and I just wanted to let you know that I really do look forward to reading it.

    Aunt Rose in Georgia, USA

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