China's Armenian Community Observes Easter

The small Armenian community in China celebrated Easter with a festive gathering in the southern city of Shenzhen on Sunday, March 31. Some 90 people took part in the day’s activities, which included an Easter egg hunt for children, Armenian dancing, and a discussion of community-wide projects.

Armenians in China pose for a group photo on Easter Sunday.

One of the initiatives currently under review is the restoration of a 19th-century Armenian cemetery in Hong Kong. The community also hopes to welcome a regular visiting priest in the near future. 

Armenians have been in contact with China since ancient times, when Armenian merchants were traders on the Silk Road. In the late 19th century, while the Russian Empire was constructing the Chinese Eastern Railway, a number of Armenians settled in northern China. By the 1920s, enough Armenians had moved to China to build a church in the  northeastern city of Harbin, which  remained active until the local Armenian community left the region a few decades later. Today, there is a new Armenian presence in China, as young professionals from Armenia and the West move to work and live in the country.

Eastern Diocese of the Armenian Church of America [publicrelations@armeniandiocese.org]