Christianity again flourishes in a corner of China

NANPING, China: Some 140 years ago, a Methodist missionary with a flowing beard stepped aboard a sampan in coastal China and held on firmly as boatmen steered up the Min River, poling and rowing past rapids that almost splintered the vessel.

On arrival in this outpost, the missionary set up a chapel, effectively bringing Christianity to a lawless, disease-ridden corner of southern China.