Across China: Nuns' modern life in Tibetan Buddhist nunnery

A pizza place in Shangri-la County is Tashi Yungdrung's, a buddhist nun, favorite dining spot in Yunnan province.

Like many young people in the cities, the 29-year-old Tibetan woman enjoys sharing her life by posting pictures of fruit pizza and friends gathering on WeChat, a mobile messaging app.

Tashi was 16 when she first donned the magenta robe of Tharpaling Nunnery, the only Tibetan Buddhist nunnery in southwest China's Yunnan Province. There she began her lessons, just 20 kilometers away from her hometown in a village of Dechen Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture.

There are more than 100 nuns from Yunnan, Tibet and Sichuan Province practicing Buddhism at the nunnery. Some of them, including Tashi Yungdrung, study scriptures; others study Tibetan grammar.

They get up and chant at a hall at around 6 a.m. every day, take courses in the morning and debate Buddhist scriptures, a special form of practicing Tibetan Buddhism, from afternoon till night.

A nun named Drolma said they have a day off every 10 days, just like living in school. The summer vacation starts in June or July while the winter vacation starts in December in the Tibetan calendar.

Tashi Yungdrung said people are wrong if they think nuns' life is boring and isolated from outside world.

She and her peers have moved to their new dormitory which is decorated by Buddhist classics, with little dolls on each of their bedsides.

She likes to visit the nunnery's library with computers and printers when she has time, cook in the refrigerator-equipped kitchens, or just scan the news on her mobile phone at dormitory.

The local government recently began to offer an annual subsidy of 3,000 yuan (about 480 U.S. dollars) to every nun in an effort to improve their lives.

In order to increase the income of the nunnery and enrich their life, nuns are encouraged to learn skills such as Tibetan medicine and tailoring.

The 300-year-old nunnery looked dilapidated with cracking walls and decaying components five years ago.

"Whenever it rained the roof leaked, we had to repair the roof, though we are women," said Drolma.

With the help of local government and society, the main hall has been strengthened, new dormitories and kitchens have been built, and the road linking the nunnery with outside world has been improved.

Tashi Yungdrung has just started a 25-day summer vacation after taking exams, returning to her home.

She has arrived at home with the money she saved up and shared a video clip of her mother cutting grass on WeChat.

"We don't have homework to do in vacation. I will pick mushrooms on the mountain to provide some help for my parents," said Tashi Yungdrung. Endi