This Really Isn't a Church

Take a good look at the above picture. Looks like a church, doesn't it? However, it really isn't. Actually, it's a rentable marriage venue -- a wedding hall for hire. I know I am splitting hairs on this, but it's something I actually stick to. A church is a place where Christians go to worship. And this place has no Sunday services, no pastors, no weekly congregation. 

So, where is this place? It's in Changzhou, Jiangsu, China -- where I live most of the year when I am not in New Jersey visiting my family. It's on the outskirts of the city and near a large freshwater lake. The whole area has been zoned / urban planned to be a tourist destination, but the development out this way is slow and at a snail's pace. That's a stark difference than the lightning speed that you see in the region between Shanghai and Nanjing. This weird bit of development can be seen by what is next to this "not a church."

The whole area was to be a themed "wedding town." Basically, a one-stop area where brides to be can get their wedding dresses, contract a photographer, and have a hall to tie the knot in. Only, the shopping area has been derelict for years now. However, the one thing I have had a hard time figuring out is the architecture. It looks like they were going for a medieval theme, and that makes no sense. Then again, as a foreigner who lives in China, there are a lot of things do not make sense.