This article means to give a brief introduction to the history and current status of religion in China.

Before talking about religion, I have to say something about "Dragon" (龙) first. "Dragon" plays a very important role in Chinese traditional culture. Chinese often call themselves "Descendants of dragons". The concept and image of dragon had existed in ancient China more than five thousand years ago. Unlike the evil and greedy monsters in western legends, dragons in China are looked upon as powerful supernatunral existances and guardians of justice.

The emperors of Ancient China took advantage of the fact that dragons were widely worshipped. The first emperor of Western Han(西汉) - Liu bang (刘邦) (256-195 BC) was the first emperor known to claim himself to be the human form of a dragon. This method proved to be very useful. People thought him as some one sent by heaven, carrying the will of gods to help people end the tyranny and the sufferings. Liu bang succeeding in gaining the trust of the people and made himself the first emperor of the second nation-wide dynasty.
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The concept of emperors being the human form of dragons became widely adopted. Emperors used this method to prove that their reign was backup by supernatural powers. And people were willing to believe that they were ruled by a dragon rather than a human. When riots happened, leaders usually would make stories that they were the really dragons sent by gods and the emperors in the palace had lost gods' favor.
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With this concept being almost a common sense in ancient China, religion became much less important to emperors.

The Three Religious Beliefs (三教)

Buddhism, Taoism and Confucianism are the three major religious beliefs that were quite popular in ancient China.
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Buddhism (佛教) -- was the most popular religious belief in China. It came into China from India about a few years BC. Between 500-1000 AD, Buddhism became quite popular and got a lot of believers. Till now, there are still quite a few Buddhism temples in China.
Buddhism emphasizes cycling of life. Mortal life is about suffering, guilt and emptiness. Nirvana is the ultimate goal. Buddhas are not gods, but just teachers of buddhism. Disciples are meant to learn the essence of Buddhism from Sutra with extreme self-reliance and self-discipline.
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Taoism (道教) -- is a native Chinese religious belief. It origined from the whorshipping activities and alchemy in ancient China. It first came into being between 126 -- 144. During its growth, it absorbed almost all the supernatural elements of Chinese traditional culture. Taoism was favored by emperors in several dynasties, like Tang Dynasty(唐朝) and Song Dynasty(宋朝). Taoism emphasizes reaching a harmony between the self and the nature. By learning and practicing Taoism, one can possibly become an immortal.
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Confucianism (儒学) -- is arguably a religious belief. It definitely does not involve any supernatural powers. It does not have any institutes like Christianism or Buddhism. Yet through the extremely long history of China, it always had a lot of believers and had always been very influential. So lots of people regard it as a religion.
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Around 500 BC, Confucias (孔子) put together all the Chinese traditional concepts on society, moral and family into a whole set of standards, which was the origin of Confucianism. Confucianism advocates a strictly cascaded structure for countries and also families. In this structure, emperors have absolute power over everybody else in the country. The patriarch, usually the eldest male in the family, has the absolute power over everybody else in the family. All the concepts and standards in Confucianism, teaching people how to behave and think in daily life, are centered around this cascaded structure. Obviously the concepts would be liked by emperors and those in power. Confucianism was soon adopted by emperors and set as the general standards that all the people should conform to. Over time, Confucianism became a tradition of Chinese culture. Some concepts were so much merged into the culture that they were still widely accepted by most people in the time when Confucianism was not advocated by certain emperors.
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The popularity of religions in tranditional China

All the religions co-existed quite well throughout the long history of China. Confucianism was advocated by the ruling class. Buddhism, Taoism and other religious believes provide a good guide on spiritual and supernatural matters to common folks as well as the ruling class. Disciples to a certain religion were usually just a very small portion of the whole population. Most people would respect and believe the theories and supernatural beings of all religions. In the famous novel "The journey to the west (西游记)", the Monkey King (孙悟空) followed his teacher to India trying to bring back some Sutras. There is no doubt that lots of buddhas showed in the novel. But a lot of immortals in Taoism also played important roles in the novel. It was a good reflection of the status of religions in China. Various religions lived very well with each other. Most people believed in them but would not exclusively follow one of them.
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The reason for the co-existance is not too complicated. The human form of dragons theory provided an unquestionable basis for the ruling of the emperors. Confucianism, setting the standards of human deeds in society and family, helped strength the authority of the imperial power. Religions, though backed up by supernatural powers, could never have the chance to challange the authority of the emperors. So religions that did well in China could only be those having a passive attitude towards daily life. Neither Buddhism nor Taoism would encourage people to get involved in politics or power. They both advocate avoiding "vulgar" matters and focusing on learing their theories to eventually become a buddha or an immortal. Gaining the favor of emperors is the key to being more popular. This is the major difference with the Chirstian world.
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The current status of religions in China

Religion activities are not forbidden in today's China. But none of them is favored or advocated as well. Still, religions co-exist with each other. But followers are not many. However, a lot of concepts are already merged well into Chinese traditional culture.
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Christian was never very popular in China. It first came in to China in Qing Dynasty(清朝). 19th and early 20th century might be the peak of its propogation in China.
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Today, temples are more and more becoming tourism attractions rather than religious sites in China. Although once quite popular, religions were never powerful enough to challenge the imperial power. Now they are more like the remnants of the Chinese traditional culture. Will their influence gradually fade away?