On Lhasa's bustling Barkhor Street, there is an ordinary Buddhist temple, Canggu Temple, the only nunnery in the Lhasa Old Town.

The temple is run by a very well-known woman named Tsultrim Lhamo or the "Great Manager". She was born in 1953 in Zogang County, Chamdo prefecture, Tibet. In 1984 she joined the temple to practise Buddhism and is now the head of Canggu Temple’s management committee. Recently, she was awarded the title of "Tibet’s most beautiful galsang flower", a prestigious award for outstanding woman in Tibet.

When the journalist met Tsultrim Lhamo, she was laughing heartily. She was wearing a maroon woollen hat and sports shoes, and only her crimson-colored habit indicated that she practices Buddhism.

"Canggu Temple belongs to the Gelug Sect of Tibetan Buddhism and its history dates back to the seventh century", Tsultrim Lhamo said.

Nowadays thanks to a series of preferential policies from the government, the temple not only has running water but also electricity and a television. Furthermore, all the nuns have pensions, medical insurance and accident insurance coverage. There are eighty-six nuns in the temple. Usually, according to convention, a number of nuns chant the sutras and carry out Buddhist ceremonies, whilst others run the teahouse and sell tourist souvenirs. Some of the younger sisters also have part-time jobs. A great deal of the temple affairs are taken care of by the "Great Manager" Tsultrim Lhamo.


Carrying out Buddhist practices according to convention
"Every day at 8 am, the nuns drink morning tea together in the kitchen and eat Tibetan barley bread, then the majority go to the main hall to chant sutras", says Tsultrim Lhamo.

Every year there are two big religious ceremonies at the temple: the New Year’s praying and the Saga Dawa Festival. Occasionally, when the local religious believers celebrate a wedding or carry out a funeral, they may invite the nuns from the temple to come to their homes to chant sutras. However, most of the time the nuns stay in temple receiving donations from benefactors and chanting sutras according to the benefactor’s needs. Under Tsultrim Lhamo’s supervision, all of the donation records are distinct and clear, and absolutely nothing is overlooked.


Management of subsidiary business
Besides government subsidies, the temple also actively runs a teahouse and a tourist souvenir shop, which provide high quality products with fairly good price and service. Every morning at 8, the strong potato chips yet to be smelled from the wok out from the kitchen. Under Tsultrim Lhamo’s guidance, the nuns set out to fry potatoes, mix up sweet tea and busy themselves with the teahouse business.

The steamed buns served in the teahouse are very famous in Lhasa, attracting bustling crowds to take a rest and eat breakfast.

"I am not the only person who should take credit for this. The income generated by our business is distributed to all of the nuns with the elderly ones receiving more", Tsultrim Lhamo said.

Ever since the temple is equipped with televisions, the nuns there have been well informed on recent news. Whenever they hear news that an earthquake or other natural disaster took place, Tsultrim Lhamo will organise everyone to chant sutras, pray and donate money to the disaster areas. Up till now, the total sum donated by the Canggu Temple to help the victims of the Wenchuan, Yushu and Ya’an earthquakes exceeds 300,000 yuan (48,360 US dollars).

Tsultrim Lhamo also said something about the temple’s "night school".

"Every week we have regular time when everyone come together and have scheduled classes. We study Tibetan and Chinese along with history and culture", she said. "I want to broaden my knowledge in order to run the temple even better".