St. Joseph's Church in Beijing towers over busy Wangfujing Street, not far from Tiananmen.
Churches, such as the cathedral in Wangfujing, are administered by the State Administration for Religious Affairs and a body that falls under its supervision, called the Chinese Catholic Patriotic Association (CCPA).
The purpose of the CCPA is to control the church in China and to disconnect it from the Vatican, a situation that has driven many Chinese Catholics to worship underground.
See images here of several historic churches in Beijing that are under the CCPA.
(Photos by Jacob Haifeng)