On Dec.7th, 2009 The Cathedral of Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception, a Roman Catholic cathedral in Hangzhou, China, marked its 350th anniversary.

Since it is the only Catholic church in Hangzhou, it is known simply as the Catholic church.

The cathedral was originally built in 1661 by the Italian Jesuit Martino Martini, and is still one of the oldest churches in China.

Martini was a Jesuit missionary, cartographer and historian, mainly working in imperial China. Born in 1614 in Trento, Italy, he set out for China in 1640 and in 1643 settled in Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province.

From there, he did much traveling to gather information, especially on the geography of the Chinese empire. He visited several provinces, as well as Peking and the Great Wall. Martini was the first to study the history and geography of China with rigorous scientific objectivity.

Ferdinand von Richthofen calls Martini the leading geographer of the Chinese mission, one who was unequaled during the 17th century.

By Li Hui