The streetside gate at lovely Tongjiao Temple in Beijing, the city's only nunnery. A place of strict discipline, it is open to the public only on new moon and full moon. The ultra-urban location was used as a police station during the Cultural Revolution, but was restored and re-opened in 1981.
Posted to Reddit and Bluesky, August 20, 2025
Gate to the Dragon Spring at the quaint Longquan (Dragon Spring) An Nunnery in Badachu Park, Beijing. The temple dates to the 1420s, and the nuns sell simple snacks in an outdoor dining area above the titular Dragon Spring. There is also a fine collection of very old statues in a dilapidated hall.
Posted to Reddit and Bluesky, August 11, 2025
China's four Buddhist mountains have their "main attractions," the big temples that everyone wants to visit. But one of the best things about these places is the general atmosphere. Coming down from a "big temple" on Jiuhuashan, Anhui, I saw humble little Jingtu Nunnery next to my hotel.
Posted to Reddit and Bluesky, July 22, 2025
The "apricot-colored" gate of tiny Long (Dragon) Nunnery on Jiuhuashan, Anhui, a "dwarf" across from the massive Zhantanlin across the street. Founded as a monastery in the Ming, it became a nunnery in the Qing. It now houses a Burmese jade statue of Shakyamuni Buddha, moved here from nearby Huacheng Temple (the mountain's oldest) in 1995.
Posted to Reddit and Bluesky, June 30, 2025
This carving is in native rock inside the main hall at Chaoyang Nunnery on Jiuhuashan, Anhui. "华佛普照" might be read something like, "The splendid Buddha shines everywhere." The second character is unusual; the phrase is more often seen as "华光普照," perhaps "Splendid Light Shines Everywhere."
Posted to Reddit and Bluesky, June 9, 2025
These amusing "jade" (marble) Arhats are three of the eighteen that grace the Main Hall of tiny Wujin Nunnery on the grounds of the larger Nanhua Temple in Shaoguan, Guangdong.
Posted to Reddit et al, April 3, 2025
A nun winnows rice at Fuxing An Nunnery, on the trail down from Tiantai Temple on Jiuhua Shan. This reflects the monastic rule of the Tang Dynasty monk Baizhang Huaihai (Japanese Hyakujo Ekai) who said, "One day not work, one day not eat."
Posted to Reddit et al, February 25, 2025
