Legend has it that the British priest who built Chaonei Church disappeared without a trace before it was completed。

Then, another story goes, the church became the residence of a Kuomintang officer who abandoned his wife. She became so distraught that she committed suicide. People later claimed that, on some nights, her screams could be heard in the corridors of the church。

These are among the spooky associated with Beijing's famous "haunted house" - Chaonei Church at No 81 Chaonei Avenue in the Dongcheng district。

But the Beijing Patriotic Catholic Association, the owner of the building, says it is not haunted at all。

The association has plans to renovate the historic structure, which consists of two three-story buildings。

"We are waiting for the green light from the local relics protection department before going through the necessary procedures," said Bi Wensheng from the association。

The funds for the renovation will come from multiple sources, Bi said。

Records show that an American missionary constructed the building in 1910 and that it was used as a school and a church. In the 1950s, it served as the offices of the Beijing Civil Affairs Bureau。

In the 1990s, it was returned to the Beijing Patriotic Catholic Association and has been unused ever since。

Bi said people regard the old building as a possibly haunted house。

"Because the building has been left unused for a long time and its gate is always closed, many children from nearby schools are curious about it. They climb over the wall to see what it is like inside," he said。

"In recent years, we have allowed people to visit the outside of the building, and they can park their cars on the site."

But people are advised not to go inside the building because it is dilapidated and they might get hurt, he said。

"You can see the stairs are seriously aged. There are cracks in the ceiling and the wooden floors. The windows are also broken," Bi said。

Nonetheless, curious people try to sneak into the building at night, he said。

Ghost-story enthusiasts were disappointed by news of the planned renovation。

Among them was Daniel Newman, managing director of newmantours.com, which features tours, including "ghost tours," led by English-speaking guides。

"This is the first time that I've heard the haunted house would be renovated, and I feel very sad," Newman said。

There are many interesting ghost stories about the Chaonei church, and the renovation would damage those legends, he said。

"I hope the original appearance of the building can remain," Newman said。

But a passer-by at Chaonei Church surnamed Zhang, who works in a nearby bank, got into the yard for a better look at the building and said she was looking forward to the renovation。

Zhang had heard that the church was one of Beijing's haunted sites。

"The church is beautiful," she said. "If it could be renovated, it would become a unique part of the landscape of Beijing."

【新聞快訊】

北京“朝內(nèi)大街81號”是很多城市探險(xiǎn)者心中的圣地，相關(guān)“鬼故事”多達(dá)十多個(gè)版本，被網(wǎng)友稱為“朝內(nèi)鬼屋”。而在此駐守的負(fù)責(zé)人孟奇先生說，已開始著手申請對院內(nèi)的兩棟老樓進(jìn)行修繕，“修舊如舊”。聞此，曾去探訪過的探險(xiǎn)者頗感欣慰，“傳說不過是嚇唬人”，如果能把老樓修好，應(yīng)該會(huì)是北京一道別致的景觀。

兩樓荒廢被傳為兇宅

圖片為傳說中的“兇宅”的朝內(nèi)大街81號。三層歐式小樓上爬滿紅綠色的爬山虎，窗戶多處殘破，墻皮也有大面積脫落，西側(cè)的老樓窗戶則玻璃全無，極其通透地矗立在斜陽中。

走進(jìn)歐式小樓，才發(fā)現(xiàn)樓內(nèi)較為昏暗，幾乎照不到陽光，所有房間都空無一物，走在破損的地板上發(fā)出“吱吱”聲響，墻上涂鴉著“某某到此一游”、“死”、“有鬼”等字，角落里堆著一些煙頭和飲料瓶。每層樓梯處都寫著“危房危險(xiǎn)”，朱紅色的樓梯上有鏤花紋案，大部分已經(jīng)斑駁，三樓的木地板裂縫最多，最寬的將近4厘米，天花板上也能看見幾道光從裂縫中透出來。西側(cè)樓內(nèi)的危舊情況更甚，樓梯腐壞嚴(yán)重，不堪重負(fù)，工作人員勸告“為了安全，最好別上”。

好奇心制造的“兇宅”

對于這兩棟樓被傳為兇宅，產(chǎn)權(quán)單位天主教愛國委員會(huì)的相關(guān)負(fù)責(zé)人孟奇先生表示早有所聞，“但其實(shí)這個(gè)院子就是歷史久些，加上十多年沒人住才荒廢下來，根本不是什么兇宅。”他介紹，這兩棟樓于1910年美國天主教會(huì)所建，作為培訓(xùn)傳教士中文和提供休息的華北協(xié)和話語學(xué)校，1930年后改名為加利福尼亞學(xué)院，開始招生，解放后為北京市民政局的辦公樓，1995年后交還給天主教會(huì)。由于資金問題，這兩座樓從1999年后便一直閑置。

2005年左右，許多熱衷于城市探險(xiǎn)的年輕人出現(xiàn)在院子周圍，他們把自己的經(jīng)歷想象加工，于是網(wǎng)上出現(xiàn)“81號院鬧鬼”的傳言。“有傳言說這里死過一個(gè)民國將軍夫人，其實(shí)東樓只在解放前被一對比利時(shí)老夫婦做私宅用，從來沒有民國軍官居住過。”孟奇說。

孟奇稱，讓這個(gè)院子變成“兇宅”的都是人們的好奇心。“原本院里都是一人多高的荒草，再加上常年鎖門，難怪有人好奇，有不少人都在晚上翻墻進(jìn)來探險(xiǎn)，前幾年還有幾個(gè)孩子把東墻挖了一個(gè)洞，就為鉆進(jìn)來看看。我們發(fā)現(xiàn)攔不住，所幸把門開開隨便看”。從前兩年起，81號院便在白天打開大門，人們可隨意參觀，只不過看門人會(huì)提醒他們注意安全，院內(nèi)的空地也被改造成停車場方便周邊市民停車。

兩棟老樓或被修繕利用

據(jù)曾經(jīng)到81號院深夜探訪的城市探險(xiǎn)者“大膽小兔子”介紹，他在2006年秋天翻墻進(jìn)院，一行人拿著手電在樓內(nèi)轉(zhuǎn)了兩圈便出來了，“不過是個(gè)傳說，樓內(nèi)一片荒寂，是有些恐怖，但根本沒有傳說中的會(huì)有人半夜哭泣。我前兩天再去，發(fā)現(xiàn)樓體壞得更厲害了，估計(jì)撐不了多久”。他說，如果能把這兩棟老樓修繕起來，應(yīng)該會(huì)是北京一道別致的景觀。

說起這兩棟老樓的將來，孟奇稱，天主教會(huì)一直想修繕這兩座建筑，“我們遲遲未動(dòng)工主要是資金問題，而且這個(gè)院子還是東城區(qū)文保單位�，F(xiàn)在相關(guān)手續(xù)正在辦理，基建部門已著手修繕。雖然允許市民和游客入院參觀，但因兩樓在1999年和2004年兩次已被鑒定為高度危房，所以我們不建議進(jìn)樓探訪。”