Boluo Temple in the Chinese city of Dali
Source: Bloomberg
Chinese Monks Get Electricity for the First Time Thanks to Solar
The Boluo Temple mountain monastery finally has solar power for an electric stove and space heater. That’s enough for monks who refuse the luxuries of fully charged modern life.
It takes three hours of hiking along rock stairs and muddy walkways to reach Boluo Temple in the Chinese city of Dali, where by some accounts monks have lived since as early as the Tang Dynasty. For more than a thousand years, devout inhabitants have practiced their beliefs from the prayer hall near the mountain peak, collected water from snow melts and sourced nearly all of their heating needs by burning fallen branches. At least until recently.
In just the past few years, the centuries-old temple for the first time gained access to electricity — not from the country’s grid, but thanks to solar panels installed in its backyard. “We never bought electric appliances before, and cooked and boiled water using firewood,” said Ming Jing, a 32-year-old junior monk at the temple. “This is a great improvement of convenience for our lives here.”