Loneliness in Shenzhen

2006-02-17

Bartłomiej Magierowski

Walking among the glass skyscrapers of a completely foreign country—China—I realize how much I miss our faith and its symbols. Shenzhen is a vast city of industry and business—millions of factories and billions of trading companies. The metropolis borders Hong Kong directly. Shenzhen can impress with its power; it is a symbol of China's economic growth, but there is certainly something missing here...

The Chinese draw inspiration from the teachings of Buddha, but in this city even that is rather uncommon, as the worship of money has replaced all religions. Churches and mosques are practically nonexistent, and the few that do exist are squeezed between skyscrapers, as if they were unnecessary.

I lived in Poland for twenty years and was raised in the Catholic faith. With sadness, I now look at the only Catholic church in the LuoHu district. It is located on the first floor of a small building whose ground floor is occupied by the local neighborhood administration. The church resembles an office or a conference room rather than a place of worship. Only a cross attached to the window indicates that it is a genuine Catholic church.

It is a sad sight when I am surrounded only by factories and office buildings, with no soaring Gothic church towers on the horizon. In Poland, we have become accustomed to having a church nearby and easy access to our parish priest. Even people who have doubts or rarely attend church are still aware that it is there. They know that whenever they are troubled or burdened by life's problems, they can step inside a church and speak with God. In Shenzhen, this is almost impossible.

Of course, God is everywhere, but at this moment my only symbols of God are a small cross I brought from Poland and my First Holy Communion prayer book. To the Chinese, God and my faith are little more than a curiosity. They have no universal commandments to guide them. Instead, they live according to the values taught by their parents and schools. Most of them are good people, but without faith their goodness is not strengthened, and Shenzhen often changes them, leading them down the wrong path. Prostitution, adultery, and theft have become common in the city. The absence of faith has turned many fundamental values upside down. In our eyes, betrayal is a grave sin. To the average Chinese man or woman, it is simply a lack of loyalty. Marriages based on money or social status are common, while love often seems secondary. I am also saddened by the attitude toward the poor, beggars, and people with disabilities. There is very little concern for those in need, and there are almost no organizations helping the city's countless beggars and homeless people. People are distrustful and keep to themselves. They often do not even know their own neighbors and lock their doors with multiple locks. I once witnessed a man beating and choking a young woman in the middle of the street while a crowd of onlookers did nothing. I was the one who finally stepped in and stopped him. I do not know what the woman had done, but violence is never the answer. Feelings such as forgiveness, repentance, remorse, and mercy seem unfamiliar to many people in Shenzhen. All those values that our faith brings into our lives are largely absent here.

I realize that, because of China's political system, history, and social development, it will probably never become a Catholic country. Nevertheless, I dream that one day a Neo-Gothic church will be built in this extraordinary city. It would surely be filled with the hundreds of foreigners living in Shenzhen. Anyone who, like me from time to time, feels lonely and longs for a real church could come there, find peace in prayer, and forget—if only for a while—the relentless pursuit of money.

Recently, a Chinese friend asked me whether I was Catholic. She said she wanted to learn more about our faith and understand it better. I told her that if she truly wanted to understand my faith, she would first have to cross the threshold of a Polish church. Only there, in its silence, while looking at the crucified Christ, can one truly understand it. Let us appreciate our churches!