China Diary, Part 1

Peter Wang and Wesley at the Great Wall of China.

I am writing these notes from my hotel room in Taipei, Taiwan, which means we are nearing the end of our whirlwind trip. A week ago today four of us left for a visit to China. Nick and I had been to China before. Nick visited in 2005 and spent a summer in China teaching English in 2006. This is my sixth trip, all of them fairly brief. I’ve been to Beijing, Shanghai, Nanchang, Dalian and Xi’an. This was the first trip for Mike Maynard and Wesley Wildmon.

A few random thoughts . . . 

*The Beijing airport has been refurbished since our last visit. I think the whole city underwent major renovation for the Olympics in 2008. 

*We had no trouble passing in and out of the country. They stamped our passports, checked our visas, and off we went.

*There seems to be less pollution this time around. That’s always a major issue in China.

*Everyone we met has been friendly to us.

*Chinese food in China is not the same as Chinese food in America. It’s hard to explain what I mean, but we haven’t had a bad meal yet. Nick loves Chinese dumplings so that’s been a staple at almost every meal.

*Everyone–I mean everyone–has a smartphone. The Chinese love the Internet even more than Americans do.

*You can see Western influence everywhere, in the way the young people dress, the music they listen to, and the TV programs they watch. I happened to catch a few minutes of the Chinese version of “The Voice,” with a set exactly like the one used in the US version, complete with a Chinese singer who fits the Christina Aquilera role. 

*As the song says, “Money runs this town.” We used to talk about “Communist Red China.” Perhaps we should change it to “Communist Green China,” not for environmental concerns but because people have money now.

*Our good friend Peter Wang flew to Beijing to spend a day with us. At one point, surveying a massive traffic jam, he commented, “We are rich now but we don’t know what to do with our money. In the old days, Christians talked about enduring suffering. Now we need help with how to handle money for God’s glory.»

I pause to remark that Beijing is huge. They say it has 20 million people, and I believe it. In China very few people have private homes as we think of it in America. Nearly everyone lives in an apartment, so you see miles and miles and miles and miles (I do not exaggerate) of towering apartment buildings stretching in all directions. It feels like the city never ends. 

*For the record, the Chinese love McDonalds. And KFC. And Pizza Hut. And Subway. We tried all four on this trip, and the considered opinion is that it all tastes similar to what we are used to in America except that the Pizza Hut in Xi’an is better than the ones we’re used to in America. 

*At one point someone remarked (without irony), “I can’t believe how many Chinese people there are. I didn’t expect to see this many Chinese in China.” We laughed at that comment, but it points out the fact that China is the most populous nation on earth with 1.3 billion people, meaning that you see vast crowds of people in the cities of China.

*Speaking of those cities, last year for the first time the urban population of China topped the rural population. It’s easy to understand if you think about. The cities are where the money is and where the jobs are. 

*Americans have a hard time understanding the sheer size of China. China has four times as many people as the US. Here’s another way to think about it:

The US has 9 cities of more than 1 million population.
China has 171 cities of more than 1 million population.

China remains firmly in control of the Communist Party. In Beijing we spent an evening with two Christian couples who have top-level jobs. They lamented the fact that if you want to make money, you can do that in China, but if you express a contrary political opinion, you have to do it behind closed doors. There is no multiparty system in China. In just a few days the party bosses will announce a new leader for China. “There will be a vote in the assembly, but it is a sham,” one person said. “It has all been already decided.” We spoke about changes that might come in the future. Westerners always hope that economic freedom will lead to political freedom. Maybe, but that seems a long way off. One Chinese couple who had lived in the US lamented to us the “flatness” of Chinese media. “They all say the same thing because the government controls everything.”

At some point you really don’t know what to say. Chinese Christians have adopted the wise policy of saying very little about politics. After all, you never know who may be listening.

In thinking about China, it helps to remember this oft-repeated adage: “Everything you hear about China is true somewhere.” What happens in one province may be different from what happens in a neighboring province. Christians may be left alone in one city and harassed by the police in another. 

Meanwhile it is clear that the church in China is riding a wave of God’s blessing. On Sunday we visited the largest Three-Self Church in Beijing, founded in the 1800s as a Methodist congregation. The service we attended was packed with people, many of them under 30. I would guess over 1000 crowded into the sanctuary. It is one of five services every Sunday. The service featured songs like “Since Jesus Came Into My Heart.” At one point they baptized 55 people. Not enough water was used to suit my Baptist tastes but otherwise all seemed in order. I know that there are questions about the Three-Self Church being under the control of the government, but this service seemed quite evangelical to me. I think it varies from congregation to congregation. Some are quite liberal, I’m told. 

The house church movement continues to expand. Later in the week we met in a hotel room with 9 people (one of whom rode a bus 15 hours to meet with us) who listen to the Keep Believing China broadcast. All have suffered for their faith, but they don’t want to talk about that. One man, a schoolteacher, said that he told two co-workers about our radio broadcast. After listening twice, they were ready to accept Christ as Savior. Another man said his whole congregation of 60 gathers to listen to the radio so they can all learn the Bible together.

As we listened to the testimonies, Wesley kept saying, “This is awesome.” Yes, it is. It’s quite humbling to listen to believers who must come in secret to meet with you and yet are filled with such joy. We cannot post the pictures we took of our meeting because it would not be safe for them. That is the other side of life for Christians in China. 

There is more to report. But be assured that God is doing great things in China. We heard no complaints, only joy, and a request for prayer and help in teaching God’s Word. “There are many new Christians in China,” one woman said. We’ve got to give them all the help we can.