这是出现在英文版中国日报的官方报道。当然英文版针对的读者是外国人。

http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/cndy/2010-03/17/content_9600333.htm

House churches thrive in Beijing
By Wu Yiyao and Cui Xiaohuo (China Daily)
Updated: 2010-03-17 07:54

Churchgoers drawn by smaller congregations and more relaxed approach of authorities

Beijing has a growing number of, and an increasingly open attitude toward, "house churches," according to members of these churches and experts on religion.

"House churches" refers to Christian churches other than those government-sanctioned, officially registered ones, which include the Three Self Patriot Movement, the China Christian Council and the Chinese Patriotic Catholic Association.

The increase in house churches is partly due to lack of space at official churches, according to Jacob Sun, a 38-year-old house churchgoer. Sun spoke on condition of being identified only by his surname and English first name, instead of his full Chinese name.

"Many of our practical needs, which are not satisfied at official churches, are well catered to at house churches," said Sun, who is also a philosophy professor at a university in Beijing.

He said he went to Three Self churches for five years after he was baptized in 1999, but then shifted to house churches for several reasons, the main one of which was overcrowding at the Three Self churches.

"Thousands of people gathered in the Three Self churches for Sunday service and sometimes you could barely hear anything," said Sun. "The congregation could hardly be considered intimate at that size."

There are more than 50,000 Christians and 17 Three Self churches in Beijing, roughly one church for every 3,000 Christian, according to a study on Chinese Christianity in 2008 by Duan Qi and Tang Xiaofeng, from the Institute of World Religions at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

When the congregation size is smaller, as it is at most house churches, it is easier to develop a close rapport with fellow churchgoers, said Abel Li, a manager with a technology company in Zhongguancun. Li also spoke on condition of being identified only by his surname and English first name.

"My church’s congregation of 300 members is ideal for me," said Li. "In a small congregation like this, I have more opportunities to communicate and build relationships with other churchgoers before and after services. We have also fellowships for people who have things such as occupations in common."

The other reason for the growing number of house churches could be a more tolerant approach by authorities, according to an academic who studies religion.

"The authorities have a much more open attitude toward discussion and debate on house churches," said Cao Zhongjian, an expert on religion in China at the China Academy of Social Sciences, in an annual report on China’s religions in 2009.

This more open attitude has allowed some house churches to establish permanent venues. In the past many often had to continually shift location, jumping from office buildings to canteens to small apartments.

Li’s house church will soon have a permanent location in a large apartment in an office building in Zhongguancun, Haidian district. The congregation raised 22 million yuan to buy it.

"We don’t have to wander from one place to another, or crowd in a small apartment," Li said.

Many house churches do small things to foster a sense of community among congregation members and attract potential new members.

Lily Zhou, a 25-year-old fine arts student in Haidian district, said her house church’s publication was a major factor that drew her to the church, which has a congregation of just 50, more than five years ago. Zhou also spoke on condition of being identified only by her surname and English first name.

The 120-page quarterly, which is available online, gives Zhou "a sense of belonging", she said.

"As a fine arts student I have to leave Beijing for painting and miss Sunday services from time to time, but I can always follow what is happening at the church and feel connected to other churchgoers through the publication," said Zhou.

Despite their growth house churches in Beijing continue to operate in a gray area.

"There is currently no law legitimizing house churches in China, but China’s constitution and international convention allows freedom of religious belief" said Yang Fenggang, the director of the Center on Religion and Chinese Society at Purdue University in the US.

And although house churches may continue to increase in number in the capital and establish more permanent venues, they likely have a long way to go before receiving any kind of official approval, according to a worker at a Beijing Three Self church who spoke on condition of anonymity.

"Some house churches have already attempted to officially register with the authorities, but their applications were denied because their clergyman had not trained under Three Self system," said the worker.

(China Daily 03/17/2010 page28)

 

 

    来了中国大陆那么多年，还是第一年在这里过农历除夕，领教到烟火鞭炮的盛况。晚上八点半左右，从浦东吃饭回来，一出地铁，就开始听到连续不断的爆炸声，一刻没有停止。我知道今晚就是一直会那样。我进自己住的小区，看见大门口放了一堆巨大的烟火，说不定是我们小区物业管理公司今晚负责燃放的。我只能预备忍受这种噪音，直到天亮。明天早上就飞走。

 

    如果问我喜欢不喜欢这种热闹，我会说不。别人看法不一样我无法阻止。我虽然尊重每个人的自由，中国人那种爱热闹、爱吵的文化我是不适应的，真觉得讨厌。以前公司开车的师傅说他母亲总是在农历新年身体出毛病，要住医院。他在医院见到很多因烟火鞭炮而严重受伤，甚至被炸瞎了眼的小孩子，所以他极力反对容许在市内放烟火鞭炮。我很小的时候也曾经因为燃点了一个小鞭炮，傻乎乎的不懂把它抛出去，让它在手上爆炸而受了一点伤。

 

    香港在六零年到后期因为保安原因开始禁止售卖和燃放烟火鞭炮，至今已经四十年了。香港没有因为禁止烟火鞭炮而少了热闹。这里晚上八点多，路上的汽车已经没几辆。在香港晚上八点过后，人才开始从家里出来，上街购物，逛年宵，一直到凌晨三四点。所有公共交通工具几乎都是通宵行驶。这里什么事都放鞭炮：搬家、结婚、生孩子等等。相信还有很多原因我这种背景的人没法想出来的。

 

像上海这个外表高度城市化的地方竟然有这么一种我觉得是很农村的习俗。