View source for Church of the Intercession, Harbin

{{short description|Eastern Orthodox church in Harbin, China}}
[[File:哈尔滨圣母守护教堂.jpg|200px|right|thumb|The Church of Our Lady of Harbin]]

'''The Church of the Intercession of the Mother of God in Harbin'''{{efn|{{lang-zh|s=哈尔滨圣母帡幪教堂|p=Hā'ěrbīn shèngmǔ píng méng jiàotáng}}; {{langx|ru|Храм Покрова Пресвятой Богородицы в Харбине|Khram Pokrova Presvyatoy Bogoroditsy v Kharbine}}; {{langx|uk|Церква Покрови Пресвятої Богородиці у Харбіні|Tserkva Pokrovy Presvyatoyi Bohorodytsi u Kharbini}}}} is an [[Eastern Orthodox]] church in [[Harbin]], [[China]].

This church is located in the "church street", north east of "Hongbo Square" (where St. Nicolas' Central Church used to be), on East Dazhi Avenue, where there are also [[Harbin Nangang Christian Church]] ([[Protestant]]) and [[Sacred Heart Cathedral of Harbin]] ([[Catholic]]).

[[File:Храм в честь Покрова Пресвятой Богородицы в Харбине.jpg|220px|right|thumb|Photo of the church between the years 1920 and 1940]]
[[File:Harbin Church of Intercession 2.jpg|220px|right|thumb|On the Wall of the Church (2002)]]

The Church of the Intercession, formerly also called the Ukrainian Church in Harbin, is currently the only Orthodox Church in Harbin, and indeed in all of mainland China, open to Chinese nationals for regular worship.

Its summarized history is as follows:<ref>[http://orthodox.cn/contemporary/harbin/pokrov_en.htm The Church of the Protection of the Mother of God in Harbin (Orthodoxy in China)]</ref><ref>[http://www.rfa.org/mandarin/yataibaodao/shehui/hc-05012016142638.html "Communist China makes concession to the Eastern Orthodox Church in the North East".] [[Radio Free Asia]], May 1, 2016 (In Chinese)</ref>

* In 1902, a prayer house was built in the Russian cemetery.
* In 1922, as the [[China Eastern Railway]] was being built, the Russians built a wooden church building at the site of current church.
* In 1930, the China Eastern Railway donated the present stone church building. The architect was Tidanov.
* Until 1947, the congregation was composed predominantly of [[Ukrainians]] who had fled east from the Russian Revolution in 1917.
* In 1958, during [[Great Leap Forward]] and [[Cultural Revolution]], as the Chinese-Soviet relationship soured, the Russians and Ukrainians left China, forcing discontinuance of the church activities.
* On {{OldStyleDateNY|14 October|1 October}} 1984, coinciding with the church's patron saint's feast day, the restoration of the temple was finally completed, and it reopened for worship services, conducted by Father {{ill|Gregory Zhu|ru|Чжу, Григорий}}, who served at the church from its re-opening until his passing in 2000, leaving the temple without a permanent rector for fifteen years, until the installation of recently-ordained Father {{ill|Alexander Yu|ru|Юй, Александр}}, whose first liturgy was the Orthodox Easter Service on April 18, 2016.
<!-- Deleted image removed: [[Image:Stnicholasharbin.JPG|thumb|200px|right|St. Nicholas' Central Church, ca. 1925, destroyed during the [[Cultural Revolution]] 1966-1977]] -->

== Services ==
The church is open from 9 to 11am on Sundays and [[Typica]] is usually prayed in Chinese at 10am.

== Notes ==
{{notelist}}

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

== External links ==
{{Commons category|Church of the Intercession, Harbin}}
* [[Geographic coordinates]]: {{coord|45|45|42|N|126|38|41|E|region:CN_source:kolossus-plwiki|display=inline,title}}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20110707034703/http://www.hrbghj.gov.cn/upp_web/upp_en/c_en/c_20.htm Harbin Church of Chinese Orthodox Church] (Harbin Urban & Rural Planning Bureau, Harbin City Government)

== See also ==
{{Portal|Christianity}}
* [[Christianity in China]]
* [[Chinese Orthodox Church]]
* [[Russian Orthodox Church]]
* [[Ukrainian Orthodox Church (disambiguation)|Ukrainian Orthodox Church]]
* [[Harbin Russians]]
* [[Saint Sophia Cathedral in Harbin]]

[[Category:Eastern Orthodox church buildings in China]]
[[Category:Churches in Harbin]]
[[Category:Chinese Orthodox Church]]
[[Category:Ukrainian diaspora in Asia]]
[[Category:20th-century churches in China]]