During the Divine Liturgy, Archpriest Alexy Kiselevich, rector of the Orthodox community, Priest Michael Wang and Archdeacon Evangel Lu, clerics of the Chinese Autonomous Orthodox Church concelebrated with Metropolitan Hilarion. Assisting during the service was Subdeacon Papiy Fu Xiliang, graduate of Archbishop Victor (Svyatin), head of the Russian Ecclesiastical Mission in 1933-1956. There were about a hundred people present at the service — members of a multinational Orthodox community in Shanghai. Most of them partook of Holy Communion.

Among those present at the service were Consul General of: Russian Federation — Andrei Smorodin, Ukraine — Sergei Burdelyak, Belarus — Vladimir Vorobiev, Russian Ambassador to the Philippines Kudashev Nicholas, chairman of the Coordinating Council of Compatriots in China, President of the Russian Club in Shanghai Mikhail Drozdov, movie director Pavel Lungin, representative of the Office of Religious Affairs of Luwan district of city of Shanghai Xu Huijiang. Irina Beleva, General Consul of Bulgaria in Shanghai came by the end of the service.

After the Divine Liturgy, Metropolitan Hilarion said in his archpastoral homily:

«Dear fathers, brothers and sisters!

I heartily congratulate you with this day when we had the opportunity to celebrate the Divine Liturgy in the historic St. Nicholas Church in Shanghai. For many decades there were no services in this church. But in recent years, albeit sporadically, once again on major holidays, the services were beginning to occur. This is primarily due to the fact that you saved the Holy Orthodox Faith, that with your patience and perseverance you overcome all the obstacles erected against it.

Orthodoxy has existed in China for several centuries. Orthodox Faith in this country is confessed by both Chinese and Russian, Ukrainians, Belarusians, Moldovans and other nationalities that reside here. It is important that all Orthodox believers were able to come to church and participate in worship, that through the Holy Eucharist we can unite with God, not only spiritually, but also with all our being.

The Temple is the spiritual core of Christian life. It is impossible to be a Christian and not go to church. It is impossible to be Orthodox and not participate in the sacraments of the church, not partake of Holy Communion. Those people who consider themselves Christians, but do not go to church, as a rule, are far from God. They have a hard time to find words to utter a prayer to the Lord. In church, these people feel awkward and uncomfortable: they always think that they do not know much and that the service is performed as if not for them. And only those Christians who are in the church on Sundays and holidays, feel the special presence of God in their lives.

What should those Orthodox believers do who would like to come to church every Sunday, but do not have this possibility? First of all, one should come to church whenever the opportunity appears, whether it be weekly, monthly, annually — as did Orthodox believers living in the Soviet Union. Many of them have not been able to pray in divine services in the churches because they were closed. It sometimes happened that the nearest church was hundreds or thousands of miles away. But believers lived in hope that these churches would open, and sooner or later the worship will return to their lives. They did not lose hope, despite the fact that years and decades passed, and nothing around them, it would seem, has changed.

Orthodox believers in China for decades lived in hope for the revival of church life. We can not yet say that the Orthodox Church in China is fully revived. However, the first signs of this are visible: we see that those churches, which for many years been used for other purposes and did not opened their doors to believers, now, even if not in full measure, but once again become what they were meant to do — in them the worship services are performed.

We hope, pray and work to ensure that regularly worship services led by resident priests be performed in existing Orthodox churches in China, that the temples, which are currently used for other purposes, once again would be filled with the sounds of divine services, and in places where there is a need, that Orthodox Christians of China could build new churches or rebuild the ones that were destroyed. I promise you that from our side we will do everything possible for this to become a reality.

I would like to heartily thank each of you for keeping the Orthodox Faith. Stand firm in your faith, do not abandon it. In this life there is nothing more important and nothing more precious. Everything else — our successes and failures, our health and our sorrows, problems and difficulties — come and go, but the Orthodox Faith endures forever, helping us to live with God and follow the path to Heaven. «

DECR Chairman appealed to the Chinese clergy and parishioners: «A special word of thanks, gratitude and admiration I would like to bring to Father Michael and Father Evangel, to Papiy and other Chinese Orthodox believers, who, in spite of all difficulties and obstacles, firmly carried the Orthodox Faith through life. I wish you good health and wish that you would see with your own eyes the revival of the Orthodox Church in China. »

Welcoming Archpriest Alexy Kiselevich, rector of the community, Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk noted his pastoral labors in taking care of Orthodox believers in Shanghai. DECR Chairman also thanked the Consul General of Russia, Consul General of Ukraine, Belarus and other countries which have contributed to the support of the Orthodox Faith in Shanghai.

For prayerful memory Archbishop Hilarion gave to the Orthodox parish in Shanghai, the miraculous image of Our Savior (not hand made), and for the parish library — a set of books written by him. During the liturgy, each worshipper received the image of the Mother of God «Joy of All Who Sorrow» as a blessing.

Archpriest Alexy Kiselevich on behalf of the participants expressed to the DECR Chairman filial love and gratitude for the warm Archpastoral visit and Episcopal prayer. To strengthen the prayer in the affairs of the normalization of the Chinese Autonomous Orthodox Church, Metropolitan Hilarion has been presented with the image of Guardian Angel.

After the service, a tea reception was held, after which, having given the Archpastoral blessing to all gathered, Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokamsk flew to Harbin for completion of the official program of stay in China at the invitation of China’s State Administration for Religious Affairs. DECR Chairman was accompanied by D.I. Petrovsky of the Department for External Church Relations of Moscow Patriarchate, L.M. Sevastyanov, executive director of the Foundation of St. Gregory the Theologian, and Subdeacon Alexander Yershov.

Originally published in Russian by DECR Communication Service June 24, 2012

English translation by Katherine Ilachinski

In parallel to his business activities, Mikhail is also dedicated to promoting the interests of his fellow Russians in China and the Asia-Pacific region. As such he is the chairman of The World Coordination Committee of Russian Compatriots (www.vksrs.com) and the Chairman of the Russian Club of Shanghai.

Mikhail has dedicated much work to charting the history of Russian immigration in Shanghai, and has also been working to establish a Russian Orthodox community in the city. He is also a leading member of “Polusharie” – a Russian language web-based community focused on Asia.

He is the author of numerous articles on legal issues as well as questions concerning the Russian Diaspora in Shanghai. In addition he is a published poet.

In 2004 he was awarded a medal by the City of St Petersburg in commemoration of 300 year anniversary for his commitment to developing a partnership between the cities of St Petersburg and Shanghai.

Mikhail holds a law degree from the University of Vladivostok, where also he taught. He studied Chinese at Dalian University and Fudan University in Shanghai.

Mikhail speaks Russian and Mandarin. He lives in Shanghai with his wife and three children.

Активный участник и разработчик сайта Русского клуба в Шанхае дал интервью популярному развлекательному журналу для иностранцев Шанхае, «CityWeekend«. Здесь публикуется полная версию интервью, короткая версия опубликована на сайте журнала.

So, just how many Russians are there in Shanghai?

I think there are roughly 1,500-2000 Russians in “Shanghaisk”. The number doesn’t include the people from the Soviet Union’s former satellite states, like Ukraine, Belarus, and of course Bashkortostan!

What exactly does the Russian Club do? Events, talks, parties, charities, mahjong club?? etc. Can you tell us about all the activities?

Yes, I do. We hold our regular meetings every month (as usual, last Friday of each month). It’s not a party, but it is a good chance to meet your friends and nice people in this crazy city. Every time we have almost the same deal: Russian music, vodka-beer and good discounts. And everybody likes it. We also organize BBQ-parties, meetings and readings with Russian celebrities, who just visits at Shanghai . And at times we held concerts with the popular Russian rock-band.

How did you get involved in the Russian Club? When?

I’m an IT-guy who likes social activities and make some useful things on web. The founders of Russian Club took notice of me, and then invited me to come to Shanghai. It’s happened one year ago. Now we have a new web-site with daily updates about Russian and expat life in Shanghai.

Who can join the Russian Club? Can non-Russian people join?

Everybody, who can drink a bucket of vodka in two minutes. There is other option: if you are interested in Russian culture or have a Russian friend, you are welcome.

You guys look like you have a pretty comprehensive website (I can’t read it). It looks like an active community of Russian users talking about Russian things and not only Russian things, but news about Shanghai and China. Is that true? Can you tell me about some of the website features that you guys have for your club members?

Like I said before, this is a new website, actually it’s still under reconstruction, but we’re continually improving it. We’re planning to make it fully “user-powered” and, in short, create something like Russian CityWeekend. Ha-ha, another competitor. You have no chance, CW-team! But besides that we have a web-forum, which celebrated the 11-th anniversary last month!

Russians have had a long history in Shanghai. Do you guys explore that heritage? If so, how?

Of course-kiy! To explore Russian heritage and continue the traditions of our ancestors in Shanghai is our main mission. On our website we have an archive of Russian newspapers (“Slovo”, “Shanghai’s Dawn”), which had been published in 30’s. Also, we collect books, articles, poems, novels by authors, who used to live in Shanghai. Besides that, Russian club in Shanghai published or participated in publishing a few books about Russian heritage in Shanghai.

I heard there’s only one Russian restaurant in Shanghai. Can you really not get good Russian food anywhere else? What do you recommend to eat there?

Yeah, it’s so sad. There is only one Russian restaurant in Shanghai, but there’re dozens in Guangzhou and Beijing. I want to appeal to rich people and investors in the сity, that Russian community in Shanghai needs a good and expensive restaurant. Price is not a “wen ti”.

What kind of activities/programs/events do you guys have planned for the future? (Please reference anything during or after Jan. 7-20)

It’s half-secret information, only for CW-readers. We want to organize concert of the legendary Russian musician Boris Grebenshikov, founder of Russian rock music. Also we are planning some activities for Russian Expo. More information is coming soon.

Why is it important to you to belong to the Shanghai Russian Club? 10. What’s your favorite thing about the Russian Club?

For me it’s important to feel myself part of something big. We should support our compatriots and carry on the Russian history in Shanghai. If not we, who will do that?

Anything I haven’t asked but should have? Tell me!

My interview is long enough , ha-ha! But if you don’t know, today (January, 7th) is Christmas in Russia and all East Orthodox countries. So, Merry Christmas! S Rozhdestvom!

How long has the Russian Club been around?

We’re actually celebrating our tenth anniversary this year.

Congratulations! Do you have anything special planned?

Of course, we’re planning a large celebration and members of Russian communities from all over China and other Asian countries are coming to Shanghai.

Wow, Shanghai must be an important Russian community to attract such a crowd.

Before the 1950s, more than 30,000 Russians lived in Shanghai. Today there are 1,300 to 1,500 Russians in the city, but Russian influence can be seen all over Shanghai.

We’re guessing you don’t mean fur hats during the winter.

No, there are many examples of Russian architecture in Shanghai.

Like the Exhibition Center?

Yes, also the cathedral on Xinle Lu. It is probably the most important structure left.

It used to be a nightclub, right?

Yes, but through the efforts of the Russian Club, and with the cooperation of some Chinese government agencies, we were able to begin restoring it to its original use.

So, back to your anniversary celebration, what sort of events do you have planned?

It’ll be combined with a conference of Russians living in China. We will have Russian diplomats from China as special guests as well as events celebrating Russian culture.

And food, right?

No party is complete without a nice buffet. Well, there’s actually only one Russian restaurant in Shanghai.

Better start cooking now then

1936: A Russian band, headed by Oleg Lundstrem, earned its way to fame while playing at the local Paramount Club.

2002: Oleg returns to the restored Paramount — this time as the conductor of the Russian State Indoor Jazz Band.

Oleg Lundstrem’s journey highlights the music history of Russia across the world. His name, to some extent, implies jazz in Russian. However, what is not known that it was in Shanghai, while playing at the Paramount, that Olega first came to be known as a jazz musician.

With the passage of time, many things faded out of people’s minds. But Longst’s return brought back memories of Shanghai that shone in neon light, women clad in chi-pao and jazz hummed from city corners.

—

Of course, I believe that I influenced a lot of people when I first came here. We (the band conducted by Longst) were popular at that time, which, to me was also surprising. As you may well know, when we first came here in 1936 we were a group of kids then, basically amateur artists. However, after performing here for four years, we became the largest and the biggest band in Shanghai.

—

At that time, we lived in No.10 Route-de-Grouchy (today’s No.4 of the Yanqing Rd). When a German TV crew came to Shanghai to do a story on me they couldn’t find the house. I helped them to find the place. I remember an old Chinese lady attended the door. She recognized me immediately and welcomed us with tears in the eyes. She told us that at that time she was just a little girl and listened to music everyday. »The music came from that floor,» she said, pointing to the fourth floor, where we had lived when we played in Paramount.

—

I nearly forgot to tell you. This is my second visit to the city. Last time was a decade ago with other members of the band, when we met an old man of roughly the same age as this lady. He must be just a little boy during the end of 1930s. He reminded me something that I had almost forgotten as I rented the house from a tailor. It’s true.

Longst loves China, especially Harbin, where he first organized the jazz band. But it was in Shanghai where he made a name for himself.

—

Paramount is located at the corner of today’s Yuyuan Road and Huashan Road. It had been an aristocratic and a fashionable ballroom in Shanghai during its heydays in the Thirties. When I performed there, every morning I read newspaper, which was published both in Russian and English. My English was fairly good at that time. One day, I found an advertisement on the »North China Daily News», which said: «Welcome to Paramount! Olega Longst comes from Russia to play for you!» It wasn’t quite true. My band and I come from Harbin. I rushed to Paramount’s manager to ask him to change the advertisement.

»If I am mistaken, you are Russian,» the manager said. I said yes. »So the rest is up to me. It’s just an advertisement. Don’t read too much into it.» I had no choice but to agree with him, because nothing was mentioned in the contact about the advertising. It was my fault.

The city’s night seemed rich and peaceful in the neon lights and music, and the air was full of fragrance. But it still wasn’t ‘s right in Longst’s mind.

—

Another story occurred during wartime. On the south side of today’s Middle Yan’an Road stood some famous ballrooms — Kasanova, Green Spoto — to name just a few. In addition to the Paramount, we (the band) also performed at the Green Spoto. The inflation was very high at that time. The salary we signed in the contact would be worthless in the next month. At that time I was not only the conductor of the band but its manager as well. I had an obligation to look after the welfare of my band members as well.

I knocked at the door of the manager’s office. A pale looking Chinese man sat there. «Why have you come here,» Mr. Li, the manager of the ballroom asked me politely. I told him: «Because of the increasing inflation, I have come to ask for a raise in pay for my staff.» Mr. Li pulled out a pistol, loaded it and put it on the desk with his hand on the trigger and said: «Please tell your staff, that I have suggested not to ask for any more money.» Well, we still had two months left of our contract. So we had no choice but to continue performing. But five days later, when we were just getting down to our regular business, we heard a huge blast. All of us rushed out of the ballroom as fast as we could. When the smoke cleared, we discovered that nothing was left of the ballroom, except the stage where we performed. Later, we were told it was the work of rival gangsters. That was the end of Green Spoto.

—

We had also played for two and half years in the Majestic ballroom. To me, the Majestic was the most open ballroom. We were the only band, which was signed up for more than a year. Generally speaking, Majestic changed its band every six months to avoid being repetitive to its customers. For a long time many customers came to Majestic just to listen to out band. Majestic and the Grand Theatre were in the same building, Majestic on the 2^nd floor and the theatre was located upstairs. Different from most other theatres, which had performances every two and half-hours, Majestic had three performances everyday: at noon, in the evening at about 5:00 p.m. and in the night at 8:00. People with tickets for the later two performances would go dancing in Majestic ballroom first, and then went to the theatre through an inter-tunnel. Before every performance, they would show some short film. For those arriving late, Russian girls, carrying a red lantern, would guide them to their seats.

—

We had days off every week, so I could enjoy nearly every symphony concert in Shanghai. Even during my working hours, I would find some time to go for concerts. For example, the symphony concert held in Lanxin Theatre was from 5:00 to 7:00 in the evening. At such times, we would begin our performance at 8:00 in the night.

—

When we became a professional band in Shanghai, we had 17 band members. We played popular American dance-music, some Russian music, adapted by myself. Then we introduced the phono-film, We also played some popular film-music such as »Broadway Music». In short, we played almost all music that we had heard and liked it very much.

In addition to our band, there were many other bands playing in the city, some from America, and some escaping Nazi-occupied Hungary, and even from Czechoslovakia.

—

After all these years, Shanghai has developed tremendously. Pu Dong area, which was a countryside just ten years ago, has become a financial zone with people from all over the world working there. Now it all also houses the splendid Television Tower — Oriental Pearl. It is said that the Chinese are very smart people. But to me, there are smart and stupid people all over the world. What I think is different is that the Chinese are also very wise people. They protect their tradition. Their views about the world are more pure than Europeans.

In the West, money is everything. Even their novels also focus on money, beginning always from legacy — who has more and who had little — who has the right for the money and who does not… I must say, this place is not like that.

—

I, as well as other members of the band, are looking forward to our second innings here, for another performance by us in this historic city. Shanghai is my second hometown. I am an old Russian-Shanghainese!