The cathedral's design blends French and Roman architectural traditions. Fourteen large columns -- two rows of seven -- line the main hall, leading to a gallery-style transept. The central dome sits atop an octagonal drum roof that echoes the octagonal windows found throughout the building. Stained glass windows with inlay paintings filter light into a space covered with painted murals depicting Biblical scenes. When the cathedral was completed, the bishop refused to install a lightning rod on the dome, trusting divine protection over engineering. Fifty years later, pragmatism won and one was added. But by the time eighty years had passed, the commercial center that grew around the cathedral had produced taller buildings, and the rod became unnecessary -- a small parable about the relationship between faith, technology, and the passage of time.

From the outside, the cathedral announces itself through a distinctive pattern of red and yellow tiles on checkered walls, framed with white water masonry. Circular windows, columns, and semi-circular arches create a visual rhythm that is unmistakably European yet somehow at home in this northern Chinese city. The entrance was designed with two doors at the rear, originally intended to allow men and women to enter separately -- a convention that has long since been abandoned. The building's exterior, with its green copper dome and flanking towers, has become one of Tianjin's most recognizable landmarks, surviving in a commercial district where modern high-rises have transformed the skyline around it.

The cathedral's history tracks the violent upheavals of twentieth-century China. On October 20, 1916, shortly after the church's completion, French police in the concession were forced to disarm by local Chinese officers, sparking massive protests. The building survived that confrontation but not the Cultural Revolution: on August 23, 1966, Red Guards stormed the area and destroyed three of the cathedral's towers. They were not rebuilt until the 1980s. Then, on July 28, 1976, the Tangshan earthquake severely damaged the dome's base and front towers. Repairs began in 1979 and were completed by autumn 1980, when the cathedral reopened with a celebration that marked both physical restoration and the beginning of a more tolerant era for religious practice.

Today, St. Joseph Cathedral serves two distinct congregations. The Chinese parish holds daily morning Mass with additional weekend services, maintaining a tradition of worship that has continued through persecution and natural disaster. Since 2007, an English-speaking parish founded by Joseph Loftus has celebrated Mass at 11:30 each Sunday, drawing expatriates and English-speaking Catholics from across Tianjin. The English parish has built a full community infrastructure -- music ministry, youth group, rosary group, charity partnerships with local organizations including the Huiling Orphanage. In August 1991, Xikai was listed on Tianjin's cultural relics protection list, giving it formal recognition as a historical monument. It remains a working church, a French colonial artifact, and a survivor.