Tag: church

Wedding at Fitch Memorial Church

There are many churches in Shanghai, as both concessions were hosting many christians religious people. Catholics was mostly supported by the French, with the Jesuits area of Xu Jia Hui being next to the former French concession. The international settlement was supporting the Church of England, with a cathedral behind the Bund. Many protestant missionaries were using Shanghai as a base to convert people all over China, and they also built Churches in Shanghai. I recently attended a Christian wedding at Fitch Memorial Church in Hong Kou district.

Fitch Memorial Church is the only church in Shanghai to be designed in the Neo Confucian style, also called Republican style. This combines the exterior of the traditional Chinese building, although built in concrete not wood, with the inside of a modern building.

Fitch Memorial Chirch was completed in 1928. This is also the time when the whole Hongkou district was developing. The architect was Yang Xiulu / 楊錫鏐 which firm also built the Paramount Ball Room and the Nanjing Hotel on Guizhou lu. It also designed the YMCA building in Xizhang Road, that is of the same style than the Fitch Memorial Church.

The outside is rich with details.

Although there are many churches in Shanghai, it is still rare to have wedding in an actual church. The couple are both member of this church, creating a really special atmosphere. It felt a bit like in a movie.

The church has two full worship floors on the top of each other, which is rather rare. I guess this was planned to handle more ceremonies at the same time. The wedding was on the upper floor, but I could also get a view on the lower one.

Lower floor
Upper floor

The church has been through a lot over history, including as a shelter for refugees during the 1932 Japanese attack and being used as an hospital during cultural revolution. It was refurbished in the 1990s with a lot of original details having been preserved including stained glasses below.


Fitch Memorial Church was name after Reverend George Field Fitch (1845-1923). Arriving in China in 1870, he become an important leader of the Presbyterian Mission Press. His work is credited with revolutionizing China’s printing industry and establishing Shanghai as a key publishing hub in Asia.

The Fitch Memorial Church is located at 59 Duolun Lu in Hongkou district.

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Top 5 posts 2020!

1920s have a reputation to have been memorable years. The roaring twenties were called “Les années folles” in French, meaning the crazy years. The start of the 2020s did not disappoint in craziness, although definitely not is such a fun way. To close this year where I finally started to write regularly again, here is a the 5 most read articles in the Shanghailander blog in 2020.

1 – The rise and fall of the Majestic Hotel
The story of the star of Shanghai nigthlife in the 1920s, that disappeared in the 30s seems is a regular on the top search posts of the blog. The reason why I wrote this post in 2017 was my own interest and the lack of information available on the topic. Apparently I was not the only one searching

2 – China General Omnibus Company
It seems that I am also not the only one to be interested in Old Shanghai transportation, in particular the bus network of the International Settlement. This post from 2017 also includes a pretty unique map of the bus network itself from 1937.

3 – Old Shanghai tramways
Another post on public transportation in Old Shanghai. This topic seems to attract attention. This post from 2017 includes a map of the International Settlement tram network and a tram ticket from the 1920s.

4 – Sainte-Thérèse Church
First post of 2020 in the top 5. It is focused on the mysterious catholic church in the middle of the few remaining lilongs of JingAn district.

5 – Aquarius Water then and now
Published in the middle of a hot summer, this post tells the story of the Shanghai brand of mineral water Aquarius, and its famous Orange Squash. Through modern advertising, the brand became one the Shanghai favorite, that is being relaunched in a modern version in 2020.

Best wished from the Shanghailander blog for 2021! If you want me to share or publish information about Old Shanghai, people places, documents and other related topic, please contact me at hmartin@shanghailander.net .

Saint Therese Church

This church is hidden in the labyrinth of lanes from 370 Da Tian Lu, currently in Jing An district. When I first found out about it, it was really difficult to see from the outside as the whole are area was surrounded with blocks and block of lane. This area has now changed tremendously, with most of the blocks now transformed with tower blocks and sometimes a park. This picture from my friend Shi was a good opportunity to write a post about Saint Therese Church.

There is very little information about Saint-Therese of the Child Jesus (or Sainte-Thérèse de l’Enfant Jésus as it is known in French) to be found. The Catholic Church was built in 1931, on the spot of former Saint-Joseph Church damaged during 1927 fights. It is of neo-roman style, with double front columns. Construction started on 30th Octobre 1930 and the Church was consecrated on 3rd October 1931 by Mgr Auguste Haouisée, who later became the first bishop of Shanghai.

Saint Therese de Lisieux was a French Catholic Discalced Carmelite nun who became widely venerated in the 20th century. She was canonized in 1925, and named co-patron of the missions, with Francis Xavier by Pope Pius XI in 1927. As Saint-Therese was highly venerated at this period, the dedication to her was an obvious choice. Mentions of several Churches dedicated to her in Asia around the same period were found during the research for this post, including Hong Kong, Singapore, Hangzhou and Saint Theresa Cathedral in Changchun.

What makes this Church special in Shanghai is that it is a Catholic Church located in the International Settlement, where Christians missions where mostly seated. It is away from the French Concession, where Catholic Church was predominant, as well as away from Xu Jia Hui Jesuits area. It is also in a area that was mostly Lilongs, the local style of accommodation, away from the areas where most foreigners lived, so probably aimed and maybe financed by the local population.