In 1900, the Boxer Rebellion swept across northern China. The Boxers targeted Christians -- both foreign missionaries and Chinese converts -- with lethal fury, burning churches and killing thousands. Catholics in nearby Baoding fled the violence, some of them making their way to Donglu. It was here, according to Catholic tradition, that the Blessed Virgin Mary appeared in the sky during the crisis. The apparition became known as Our Lady of China, or Our Lady of Donglu, and transformed the village from an ordinary farming community into one of Chinese Catholicism's most sacred sites. In 1932, Pope Pius XI formally consecrated Donglu as the shrine for Our Lady of China.

French missionaries arrived in the region in the late 19th century, and in the late 1880s they helped construct a Gothic church in Donglu. The building survived the Boxer Rebellion but not the Second World War. In 1941, Japanese artillery bombardment set the church ablaze, reducing it to ruins. For decades, the site lay in rubble. It was not until 1992 that the church was rebuilt, rising again in the same Gothic style on the same foundations. Local officials describe it as the largest church in northern China, a claim supported by its capacity to hold several thousand worshippers -- a necessity, given the size of Donglu's Catholic community.

On May 23, 1995, another reported apparition drew the world's attention back to Donglu. Over 30,000 pilgrims had gathered at the shrine when witnesses described seeing the sun spinning in the sky, giving off various colors over a period of approximately twenty minutes. The bishop of Baoding certified the event. Whether one interprets the reports as miracle, mass psychology, or atmospheric phenomenon, their impact was concrete: Donglu's status as a pilgrimage destination was powerfully reinforced, drawing Catholic faithful from across China and raising the village's profile in ways that made authorities uncomfortable.

Since the 1990s, the Chinese government has repeatedly attempted to prevent pilgrimages to Donglu. Public security forces have blocked roads to the village, arrested pilgrims, and detained diocesan leaders. In April and May 1996, the government mobilized up to 5,000 troops, approximately 30 armored vehicles, and helicopters to isolate the village during the pilgrimage season. The statue of Mary at the shrine was reportedly confiscated. Various leaders of the Baoding diocese have been arrested or incarcerated. The suppression has not extinguished the faith. Donglu's Catholics continue to practice, and the village remains a powerful symbol of the tensions between religious devotion and state authority that have shaped Christianity in China for centuries. That the faith has persisted -- through rebellion, war, destruction, rebuilding, and active suppression -- says something about its depth in this community.