Priest Alexy Kiselevich celebrated the Divine Liturgy on the feast of the Lord's Baptism at the Holy Dormition Orthodox community in Beijing and conducted the rite of the Great Blessing of Water. This year's winter in Beijing was quite mild. Snow hadn't fallen even once. But at night the temperature drops to 6-9 degrees Celsius, so the rivers and lakes of Beijing are covered with ice, which allows the Russians who are far from home to feel the winter. By tradition, on the eve of the Baptism, parishioners assembled in the St. Innocent of Irkutsk house-chapel (Red Fangzi on the territory of the Russia's Embassy in China), and with joy and reverence took holy water. Two young Russians were baptized on the day of the feast.
Festal divine services with the Great Blessing of Water were conducted in the Orthodox parishes in Hong Kong, Shenzhen, Guangzhou and Shanghai.