Christmas Day in Wuhan

After listening to Christmas songs on my PC while I prepared for the day (thanks Geri!), I left my apartment and met Marilyn at 8:00 a.m. at the bus stop and we hopped on #804. It deposited us at an 'officially recognized' Protestant church in China: Thanksgiving Church. Walking up the cobble stone pathway through a line up of beggars with various crippling deformities, we paused here and there depositing money in outstretched cans as we wound our way to the front door.

A big, multi-story building stuck into a back alley, I was amazed at a relatively modern building compared to the other two churches I had visited the previous Sunday. I followed Marilyn as we climbed the stairs and she explained a Swedish investor had built the facility that also featured dormitories, to house about 100 seminarians who attended the school there, above the three levels used for church activities.

It was a half hour before the 9:00 – 11:00 service was to start, but the first floor of the sanctuary was already filled with parishioners who practiced singing Christmas songs. Hearing the notes, I remembered my friend, Karen Lafferty, who said on several occasions to me, "Music is the universal language." How true...I recognized the song: Joy to the World!

Looking down from the second story into the main sanctuary I was reminded of a similar layout at a Pilgrim-era church in Bennington, Vermont my husband and I had visited in the early '80s. Marilyn disappeared up the stairs to the third floor, since she works with the little kids, and I took a seat next to an old woman who signaled me to sit with her on the wood bench. It seemed to me she was an official of the church since she wore a name tag around her neck and passed out hymnals to people who entered behind us.

As the two leveled sanctuary filled, the choir, dressed in white robes and red or green choir ribbons around the neck, entered in single file procession singing the Doxology. Four pastors, three women and one man, dressed in black robes with a red ribbon took to the stage and the service began. From where I sat I could see two sets of screens on either side of the 2nd floor and the same below on the first floor where they flashed the words of the songs and scripture verses read responsively. From three scripture passages translated into English, I anticipated the sermon to be evangelistic. It was. One of the women on the platform delivered what appeared to be a good sermon that was very impassioned and garnered many affirmations from congregation members I took to be "Amen" in Chinese. At the end of the sermon the male pastor gave what I thought was an alter call (I confirmed this later) as about 40 people of all ages responded to the message and walked to the front platform.

Later, when the piano began to play "Count your many blessings" the congregation jumped to their feet and began milling around. Not really understanding what was going on I stood like a lump. My seat mate made a big push to get past me—I was a little slow—so she physically moved me aside (I was surprised at her strength!). I finally figured it out. A number of waist-level (to my size) wood boxes were spread throughout the church and parishioners made their way to them to deposit the offerings; my seat mate's job was to use a 3 inch metal device to ensure the money went down into the box. I smiled to her and she returned it as I signaled my understanding and made a contribution.

Since this was Christmas, a whole musical and dance program unfolded next. The line up featured every age group, males and females, and some impressive traditional Chinese dance that had been modified—from my perspective—to include a Christmas message. I wanted very badly to take photos of the two women's groups who did these dressed in beautifully matched Chinese outfits, but didn't, not wanting to accidentally be offensive. However, after church in the vestibule I spied two of the women, still dressed in their red and yellow traditional outfits and asked Marilyn if she thought they would let me take their photos. She inquired, of course! They hammed it up for me in front of a nativity scene, and then motioned that we should have our photos taken with them! None of us spoke the others' language but we had no problem communicating!

One thing I really noticed while at this church was the difference in the parishioners vs. residents I see on the streets of Wuhan. What's normal on the street is when I see a Chinese person passing me I look at them, smile and give a small bow of the head. If the person is a student, I have a 50% chance of having the person respond in kind; for adults the rate is 100% they either look way or stare blankly at me. Every single time at church my greeting was returned with warm, glowing eyes and delight, along with a "Merry Christmas!"... this was the best Christmas gift possible I could have received here in Wuhan! :)

Off to Christmas lunch...

Marilyn included me in her circle of friends and together we made five for Christmas lunch. After persuading the 3 Wuhan police officers standing outside of the church to let us take our photos with them (seriously!) we walked a few blocks and arrived at a Korean restaurant (another first for me!). Since two of the group had dined there previously we left our menu selection to them. Apparently, the food is brought to the table and cooked on site, so we watched our 'chef' take all the uncooked items in about 8 different plates cook them one by one. Unlike Chinese cooking preparations, Koreans don't use oil. All of the dishes were new to me and I especially liked the "salad" that consisted of cut up apples, watermelon and banana with some sort of yogurt sauce. Our chopsticks were made of metal, and we all stated they provided an extra level of dexterity to wield successfully...I was the slowest learner.

After lunch we parted our ways and Marilyn offered to take me to Wuhan's #1 landmark: Yellow Crane Tower. After a full exploration of this multi-level building originally built in AD 223 (rebuilt many times since then) we visited the 'old town' shopping area just below the site. Grabbing a bus back to the university, Marilyn and I parted ways. What a wonderful Christmas in Wuhan. My thanks to her hospitality, her friends and the congregation at Thanksgiving Church of Wuhan...they all contributed to ensure I had a great Christmas. Yet more new friends I've made in Wuhan!