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Yating Yang

A women-only temple in China has become a haven for working women and full-time homemakers thanks to its unique approach to addressing female anxiety and mental health issues.
Tianxian Temple is located in Fujian province in southeastern China.
It has recently attracted attention online for being entirely staffed by nuns and female volunteers and offering free food and lodging.
The staff include women from competitive corporate backgrounds, live-streamers striving to meet sales targets, and struggling single mothers.

The haven has also launched a free Zen retreat to provide a space for healing and renewal, allowing participants to break free from the relentless cycle of work, family responsibilities, and societal expectations.
The retreat spans three days with each beginning at 4.30am.
Preparations for the morning class come first, followed by practising Baduanjin, a traditional Chinese qigong exercise, at 6am, then a walk up a mountain after a simple breakfast.
There are no gender stereotypes or taboos at the temple, so women can even share sanitary pads openly, free from menstrual stigma.

They also engage in meaningful activities, such as practising self-care by brewing tea and watching feminist films together.
The women are also incredibly strong, just three of them can carry 200 crates of water.
“I have not felt this kind of deep embrace in years,” volunteer Xingxing said, adding: “For the first time, I feel unconditionally accepted.”
“There is nothing you cannot talk about with the abbesses. How society treats women is how it treated the abbesses before and how it treats me now,” she said.
In Fujian province, most religious spaces are dominated by monks and set strict restrictions on women.
In many temples, women are explicitly prohibited from entering prayer halls during their menstrual cycle or from serving ceremonial tributes.
Abbess Yin Xuan, who was born in the 1970s, has lived a monastic life for 36 years and, in 2014, she decided to rebuild Tianxian Temple as a women-only monastery to challenge societal norms.
She taught herself architectural design and spent 10 years rebuilding the temple in the Minnan style, which features red bricks, curved roofs, and swallowtail eaves.
Another abbess, Zhi Guan, born in the 1980s in the southwestern Sichuan province, is known for her dialect, which brings humour and lightheartedness to the temple.

She said that she is always surprised by how powerful the seemingly fragile women are.
“They are so independent,” said Zhi Guan, adding: “They can thrive perfectly well without men.”
The temple has attracted attention from female netizens across China.
One person said: “I hope there can be more places like this.”
Another added: “This is the kind of space I have been searching for. A place where I can finally breathe and be myself.”
“To reconcile with oneself and focus on your inner world. Many women need such a space to relieve pressure and truly love themselves,” a third person said.


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News

People & Culture

Gender & Diversity

Religious safe space offers an array of activities for women of every background, allowing them to achieve inner peace


Religious safe space offers an array of activities for women of every background, allowing them to achieve inner peace.


Women and gender

Chinese female-only temple run by nuns offers free food, lodging to help women, goes viral

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Religious safe space offers an array of activities for women of every background, allowing them to achieve inner peace

Religious safe space offers an array of activities for women of every background, allowing them to achieve inner peace