I was talking to an American one day at lunch time. He seems to be a generally sincere and knowledgeable person.  He believes that China is becoming a powerful country and we (Americans) should work with China to develop mutual economic prosperity. Inevitably, our conversation slid into Politics a little bit.  He said that he heard there is STILL no Religion (he is referring to Christianity in particular) Freedom in China. People are being arrested for building new churches and such. I said “I don’t think so.  When I was in China, there were Christmas special gatherings in the biggest church in Shanghai yearly. People can go there if they wish and sing along the hymns.”

I personally was approached by a Chinese lady on the bus who tried to preach me. Our conversation lasted at least 10 minutes and there were people around on the bus. I didn’t see anyone attempt to arrest her (most people didn’t even look this way) and the lady certainly didn’t seem to be afraid.

To get a more solid proof, I talked to a Chinese friend later that day, who is a Christian here in U.S. She said her mother has been a Christian in Shanghai for a while and she has no problem choosing any church she wants to go. Like right now, she is switching to another church since she recently moved. You might point out that she lives in a big and open city. Well, my friend’s mother-in-law has been long-time Christian living in a small to mid size town, and she has no problem going to Church either.  I also asked my friend whether new Christian churches are being built in Shanghai and she said Yes.

I am not conducting a scientific survey here. All I am saying is, from these samples, I would say people in Shanghai and other cities have a pretty relaxed environment for choosing to be a Christian or not.