St. Michael's Church in Beijing 北京圣米厄尔教堂

St. Michael's Church in Beijing 北京圣米厄尔教堂, originally uploaded by yingtang1.

St. Michael's Church, locates in the Dongjiaominxiang street where once was the foreign embassies area during time of the late Qing-dynasty and the Beiyang republican administration in the beginning of the last century.

It was built in 1901 under the supevision of a french pastor. It was the last catholic church built in Beijing.

圣米厄尔天主堂位于东交民巷与台基厂大街交叉路口东北处，，它供奉的是天神米厄尔，所以称为圣米厄尔教堂。该教堂始建于1901年，落成于1904年，创建者是法国传教士高司铎，是外国人在北京修建的最后一座天主堂。

Lost in Fuzhou city 福州三坊七巷

Fuzhou city 福州三坊七巷, originally uploaded by phototang.

Like any old cities in China, Fuzhou also has its traditional living areas with old style houses and the lanes which like a net. several families live in a big quartyard which blonged to a single rich family before.

Like other places in this provice, people are quite religious to different gods. They believe not only in the main religions but also in various local gods and nearly in every lane you could find a little shrine with burning cadles and incense.

The gods they worship could be a normal person in the past who contributed the society and did a significant favor to neighbours.

北京桑峪村天主堂 Beijing Catholic church in Sangyu village

桑峪村天主堂 Catholic church in Sangyu village, originally uploaded by PhotoSino.

Sangyu catholic church locates in the village of Sangyu in the mountainous area in western Beijing. Our car turned away from the national road 109 to direction of Lingshui and in just 2 km we arrived this village.

Trough a arch gate with a tower on the top , we already saw the spire behind the houses at the foot of a small hill. It is a quite village, as most vistors pass by the village and drive to its neighbor village with many peasants' guesthouse where people from the urban could taste the simple rural way of cooking.

But I like this village more and this was my 4th visit here. The people in this village are all cathlic. It is said that there were missionaries who came to here to preach early in the 14th century when Beijing under mongol regime. The church was destroyed during cultural revolution and was rebuilt in 1987.

Inside the church on the prayer's bench are bibles and missals, a old lady was praying in silence in the church and kindly told me to read more introduction of the church outside. I think on sunday there would be more people coming for mass. It is very impressive to go up hill behind the church on which top a iron cross and a beautiful virgin mary statue decorated with plastic flowers.

Honeycomb Briquette seller 胡同卖煤工

Honeycomb briquettes are traditional heating material for many people living in the big courtyards shared with other families in Beijing's Hutong(lane) areas.

When winter comes, people starts to set up the ovens themselves with tinplate funnels. I still remember the time when we lived in such courtyard in my childhood, we also had tow ovens burning these kinds of briquettes. To build up the funnel is actually very professional work, since the oven locates in the living room, you have to be very carefully to seal the joints of every tinplate funnels. Every night before go to bed you envelop hearth correctly, make sure there will be no CO leakage and also keep the coal burning to warm the room. Every winter season you could hear some reports on CO toxicosis caused by briquette oven.

The coals are mostly from western mountain areas of Beijing and it is made into the form of honeycomb to achieve more air for burning in the hearth. In different city blocks there are small briquette manufactories and the salesmen ride on a trike through the Hutongs and pile the briquettes on the platform and selling them dirently to doors. Their faces are always smeared black with the coal and remind me always on the Peking opera actors who draw patterns on faces for showing the characteristics of the figures.

The gate of a ruined famous Bathhouse

Hutong2007 Graffiti (10)
Originally uploaded by PhotoSino.

"The first class fragrance" Bathhouse which in Chinese “一品香澡堂”was once a very famous and beloved place for people to come and enjoy their leisure time before 1949 in Beijing, China.

It located in the traditonal Hutong area south to the Tiananmen square which was a entertaining area in old Beijing with many famous restaurents, theatres for Peking Opera, bathhouses and many brothels as well.

After 1949, brothels were shut down and many old houses and courtyard lived by ordinary people. Now this traditional living area is being demolished and will be rebuilt in some way.

The arch door was the only visible ruin of the bathhouse and people could only imagine that here once were many celebrities passing by.