Entity
Hankou Chinese Christian Xinyi Building
Wuhan, Hubei, China
The Hankou Chinese Christian Xinyi Building stands at the junction of Dongting Street, Poyang Street, and Lihuangpi Road. Designed by German architect Schreyer and constructed by the Hanshengsheng Construction Firm between 1923 and 1924, this six-story reinforced concrete structure with one basement level was funded by eight Lutheran missions from the United States, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, and Finland.
Inside its over 7,000 square meters of floor space, the building contained 120 rooms, with commercial spaces and common rooms on the ground floor, suites from the second to fifth floors, and single apartments on the sixth. It served primarily as a hostel and contact center for missionaries passing through Hankou, and was frequently rented to wealthy officials and businessmen. Notable figures such as Soong Mei-ling and Chiang Ching-kuo stayed here during their visits to Wuhan.
Architecturally, the building belongs to the late Classical style with Art Deco influences. Its facade features a three-section horizontal composition, with projecting cornices and belt courses, simple fluted decorations, and right-angled square windows. The building takes an L-shaped plan facing the street, with a semi-circular corner tower and two symmetrically extending wings, all resting on a elevated podium base.
In January 1951, the Chinese Christian Lutheran Church held a conference here, severing ties with Western missions and renaming itself the Chinese Christian Xinyi Church. Today, the building houses the Wuhan Christian Council and the Wuhan Christian Three-Self Patriotic Movement Committee. Designated as an outstanding historical building of Wuhan, the Hankou Chinese Christian Xinyi Building stands as a tangible record of missionary presence and architectural exchange in early twentieth-century Hankou.