Qianjia Catholic Church

Qianjia (钱家, Qiánjiā) was one of the biggest churches built in Pudong, in the 1860s, and a memorial to a French priest killed in the Taiping war. It was also the first church in Pudong to reopen after the Cultural Revolution. Today it is used as an elderly care home.

Why was a large church built in a farming village?

A local gentleman, Qian Jinnan (钱锦南), paid for a church here in 1859, the 9th year of Xianfeng. In 1862 it was destroyed in fighting with the Taiping army. The Shanghai religion gazetteer says the next church, begun in December 1864 and consecrated on 8 December 1868 by Bishop Lang Huairen (郎怀仁), was meant as a memorial to the French priest Fei Duer (费都尔), who had run the old church and was killed by Taiping troops. The Pudong gazetteer tells it from Qian’s side: he petitioned the authorities to rebuild, raised a stele and saw the church finished in October 1867.

How big was it?

The hall alone was 28.35 metres high, 46.65 metres long and 24.65 metres wide, with room for more than a thousand people. More than 50 other rooms and a garden stood around it. Some of the side buildings served as the mother house of a Chinese sisterhood, the Zhumu Hui (主母会).

What happened after 1966?

The church was repaired in 1979 and reopened with a Christmas Mass on 25 December 1981, making it the first church in Pudong to reopen after the Cultural Revolution. In 2002 the church was converted into an elderly home run by the church.

What to look for

The site on Juli Road is now an elderly home, so check access before you go. If you can see the main hall from outside, compare it with the recorded size of 28 by 47 by 25 metres. The old garden and the ring of side buildings are the other things to look for.