We had all this energy': the landmark gathering of women that unnerved the Chinese government

In September 1995, tens of thousands of women gathered in Huairou, China, for the NGO Forum on Women, parallel to the UN's Fourth World Conference on Women. The gathering, which the Chinese government sought to control, included 30,000 participants from 180 countries and represented the largest international meeting of women in history. Despite adverse conditions, including weather and bureaucratic restrictions, the forum facilitated significant discussions around women's rights, embodying a pivotal moment in the movement and reflecting a shift from marginalization to centrality in global discourse on women's issues.

"Participants tramped through mud in the half-built town to attend networking and strategy events in tents; they got soaked riding open-top tourist buses to the official UN conference in Beijing."

"As feminist writer bell hooks put it, we had been trying to move from the margins to the centre and that's what was so exciting, says Charlotte Bunch, founding director of the Center for Women's Global Leadership at Rutgers University."

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