Yesterday morning I attended the English service at the Haidian Christian Church in Beijing. It’s a fairly modern structure that sits in the middle of Zhongguancun, Beijing’s high-tech zone (locals call it China’s Silocon Valley). Even though the current building was opened in 2007 (just in time for the Olympics), the church itself dates back to 1915. The church building that was used prior to this one was built in the 1930’s and torn down to make way for this one in 2003.
When I walked ino the sanctuary I spotted a giant video screen at the front with a live video feed of the church bells. Given our discoveries in Sichuan, you can imagine how excited I was.
After the service I asked the pastor about the bells. Even though I was fairly sure of the answer, I wanted to know if they were old. He told me that they had been cast in China in 2007 specifically for use in the church.
To satisfy my new (and slightly obsessive) interest in Chinese church bells, I definitely plan to return in order to try to find out more about their bells. In the video feed I could see there was a Chinese inscription on one of the bells. What does it say?
Stay tuned.
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The bells! I’m intrigued along with you!