The South Beijing Church located at 141 West Front Gate Street is the oldest Catholic Church in China. Originally built in 1605 by Matteo Ricci as a small church in Xuan Wu Men. Later, Johann Adam Schall von Bell, the German missionary took over as the father of this church. In 1650, it was expanded into the biggest Catholic Church in Beijing city. The first king of the Qing Dynasty (Sun Zhi, 1,644 1,662 A.D.), visited and consulted von Bell 21 times during his reign. In 1775, the temple was destroyed in a fire. Emperor Qian Long (1,736 1,796 A.D.) rebuilt the temple at a high cost. On June 14, 1900, the church was burnt down again, and was rebuilt in 1904. The entire church is 40 meters long, 20 meters wide and 15 meters tall. On the East and West wings there are two tablets with the history of the church and the biographies of Matteo Ricci and von Bell. The communist Chinese did a good job in up-keeping the church. Currently it is the main Catholic Church in the Beijing district.