English evangelism started in Beijing in 1862 with the arrival of missionaries John Shaw Burdon and Samuel Isaac Schereschewsky.
In 1880, the Diocese of North China was founded to serve the city's growing Anglican population.
The property on which the cathedral is situated was originally owned by Ying Keting, an official who worked in the Criminal Department of the Qing Dynasty.
The building fell into disrepair, but was restored in 1990 by the Saiweng Information and Consulting Center.
The cathedral's interior is furnished in the Chinese style, with wooden walls and a trussed timber roof in blonde wood.