My research focuses on Christianity in contemporary China, and there’s a very personal reason behind that. I am a second-generation Chinese American, born and raised in the United States. Though I spent many summers in Taiwan, it wasn’t till college that my father took me to the People’s Republic of China (PRC) for the first time, to further expand my cultural identity. After graduating, I spent some time in China teaching, worshiping at unregistered churches – often called house churches – as well as registered churches approved by the government. Experiencing worship and life in these churches raised many questions about what faith and ­religious life mean in a very different context.

A scholar of Chinese Christianity dispels some common myths.