Religion embraced even by the irreligious
Seated near the gateway of a lamasery, 27-year-old Qiqige stares at the throngs of worshippers clutching burning bundles of incense as they pray.
Unlike them she has little interest in bowing to the gods.
Even though she grew up in an ethnic Mongolian Buddhist family, she says she's not a follower. But she doesn't mind accompanying her aunt to Yonghegong.
The college student says the aroma of incense mixed with the scent from the butter-oil lamps relaxes her, and the temple offers her an escape from life outside its red walls.
Located in downtown Beijing, Yonghegong, a Tibetan Buddhist temple with a history of more than 300 years, attracts thousands of pilgrims and visitors every day.
The lamasery, also know as Lama Temple, received an estimated 1.7 million visitors last year, with around 60,000 visitors each day during the peak season of Spring Festival.
Liu Junhong, from Shanghai, has visited many temples across the country, but she says Yonghegong has a richer religious environment than others.
"The ethnic mix of various elements of religion can be spotted everywhere in the temple, such as the co-existence of characters of Tibetan, Chinese as well as Manchu languages, " says Liu, who studied classic literature at university.
She says she understands religion in a philosophic way. "We can learn some ways of thinking and living from religion. In this sense, it is totally different from superstition," Liu says.
After three decades of reform and opening up, Chinese people's understanding of religion has changed, and young people no longer see religion as "spiritual opium," says Li Decheng, a religion researcher with the China Tibetology Research Center in Beijing.
"Today religion is usually interpreted in a cultural perspective, and is regarded as a personal choice or heritage of values. The change reflects that Chinese society, especially the younger generations, is becoming more inclusive," Li says.
On the other side of the city from the lamasery is Xuanwumen Catholic Church where Tian Yu has just concluded her prayers.
"My mum is Catholic. I learned to pray when I was a child," Tian says, who goes to church every weekend.
Established as the first church in Beijing by the Italian Jesuit priest Matteo Ricci in 1605, it had about 200 devotees at that time when it was just a small scripture hall. Today, the 20-meter-high Baroque building has become a major attraction for many young worshippers.
"Be it Easter Day, there will be more young people to be baptized," Tian says.
The China Religion Report 2010 released by the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences says over 100 million Chinese are religious believers, with the younger generations accounting for one-third.
Most young people in China have received systematic atheistic education, but that doesn't means they reject religion, and many of them have been converted.
Zhang Yiwu, a humanity professor with Peking University, says the younger generations' conversion does not suggest the failure of atheistic education because it is natural for people to have different needs.
The generations born in the 1980s and 1990s who are spoiled by the lavish care from their families can barely stand the pressure of the fast-paced market economy, and convert to get a sense of comfort and relief from religious belief, says Zhang.
Liu Junhong has similar philosophy. "Religion, be it Buddhism or Catholic, is in essence a power where people can obtain energy and relief. It is why we are attracted to the shrines," she says.
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