"West of Beijing are found the Xishan 'Western Hills'. Thanks to its
elevated position, wonderful climate and healthy air, this area since
ancient times has served a place of outings in the hot summer
months. Many ruins, temples and other monuments of antiquity are found
here. In 1910 a piece of land totaling 162 acres (60 desyatina) with a
temple were purchaced by the Mission 10 versts west of the western wall of
Beijing and one and a half versts from the nearby village of
Mentoucun. Its secluded location among the hills at the foot of the
mountains makes it suitable for prayer and spiritual reflection, and hence
ideal for skete life. On November 26th a house church in honor of the
Holy Cross was consecrated here. In 1911, on the feast of the Nativity,
the church and buildings (of the former temple) burned down. In the
following year a church was constructed in another building and services
are held there when the Superior of the Mission comes; from time to time
he visits the skete for a period of solitude and to work on his scientific
projects. In 1912 in the village of Mentoucun an estate with 36 rooms was
purchased where a lecture hall, a weaving shop and a school for 20
students were constructed. There are already more than 100 baptized
Orthodox in this area. The people are poor and ignorant of any
trade; they are descendants of the Manchus who formerly supported the Qing
government.*

In Zhezhou, 70 versts along the Hankou Road, 18 people were baptized by Fr
Sergei Chang in 1912.** In the following year 17 people were
baptized. The catechists are the seminarians Feofan Rui and Nikolai Li.

In the village of Yageying, which is about 150 versts distant from
Beijing, a certain Alexey prepared 35 people who were baptized in 1912.

There are the following mission stations in Henan province.

At the time of the Boxer Rebellion in 1900, in the city of Weihuifu, an
official of the fifth class, after having been robbed by the rebels, found
refuge in Beijing with the Russian detachment, where living for several
months, he established good relations with the Russians. When he returned
to his native place, he constructed at his own expense a church and a
school for the preaching of Orthodoxy and offered them as a gift to the
Russian Spiritual Mission in 1906; he himself was baptized with the name
of Peter. The estate donated by Peter is right in the city of Weihuifu
and consists of 33 rooms of new construction; it is surrounded by a high
wall. In addition an additional 84 mu (.067 hectares) of farm land
outside the city were donated to the Mission. In January 1905 the estate
was accepted and the building was consecrated; a boys' school was opened
there. In autumn of the same year an oratory was built in the form of a
church with an iconostasis; 37 people were baptized. At the school 20
people were instructed. In subsequent years, Archimandrite Simon often
visited from Beijing; those who were prepared were baptized. The
hierodeacon Innokenty Fan and Smaragdus (an artist) lived there for an
extended time. In 1909 a new school with 20 students was opened by the
North Gate; the teacher was Onesimus Wang. At the same time in the
village of Jiangzhuang a school with 15 students was opened by a local
resident, Lucien Zang in his own residence where the teacher was the
former seminarian Aretha Zang."

*Actually, the Qing dynasty was ruled by the Manchus, an ethnic group from
Northeastern China; they had their own language and customs. By the end
of the dynasty, many of them had been reduced to penury.

**Father Sergei Chang was the son of Fr Mitrofan Chang, the first Chinese
hieromartyr. Two of his granddaughters still live in Beijing. Like other
Orthodox believers in Beijing, they long for the day when an Orthodox
church will be opened there.