Submitted by Yutong Xie
zuoyun
Datong, Shanxi, China
Category: Monuments
The Eighth Beacon Tower Village is located in Zuoyun County, Datong City, next to the eighth beacon tower on the Great Wall. It is also the birthplace of the Ten-mile River, where a German missionary built a Catholic church at the end of the 19th century. According to some villagers’ memory, many starving people came to convert to the religion, but merely because the missionaries was willing to provide food for the believers. During the Japanese invasion of China, missionaries negotiated with the Japanese army to protect many villagers. Before the founding of China, missionaries left and moved a lot of gold and silver. During the Cultural Revolution, the church was demolished and only one tower remained. Nowadays, Catholics still come to worship every Sunday.
