DAOFU, China (Reuters) ? The Ganden Jangchup Choeling Nunnery stands hidden from view on an isolated mountain-top in southwestern China, accessible only by a twisting, rocky road. It was here, in a mud-brick hut, that Palden Choetso lived.
The 35-year-old Tibetan Buddhist nun burned herself to death on a public street an hour's drive away earlier this month, the latest in a string of self-immolations to protest against Chinese religious controls over Tibet.
Palden was a quiet woman who had been with the nunnery in the Ganzi prefecture in Sichuan province for more than a decade, her friends said. A bright nun who studied Tibetan Buddhism, she was well-versed in reciting spiritual texts and was an ardent follower of the exiled Tibetan leader, the Dalai Lama.
No one suspected, however, that Palden would sacrifice herself, writhing in flames on a dusty road lined with shops in downtown Daofu, or Tawu in Tibetan.
"I want the Dalai Lama to return to China, I want freedom for Tibet!" she is said to have shouted as fire engulfed her body.
"She had drunk several jin of gasoline," a senior religious figure at the nunnery told Reuters, referring to a traditional weight of measure that is about half a kilogram. "We got a call that she had set herself on fire, and a few of us went down to try to save her. But it was too late."
In China, eleven Tibetan monks and nuns -- some former clergy -- have resorted to the extreme protest since March this year. At least six have been fatal.
The similarities are striking: All called for the return of the 76-year-old Dalai Lama, who fled to exile in India in 1959, and for freedom for Tibet.
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