Being a woman in China is getting harder. But in Chengdu, female-only spaces are flourishing

Shen Shen runs a feminist bookstore in Chengdu, China. She must tread carefully to avoid being seen as stoking ‘gender antagonism’. Composite: Victoria Hart/Guardian Design

In a small, unassuming bookstore in south-west China, a discreet community of women dream of a more equal future. Here in Chengdu, 42-year-old Shen Shen runs one of the country’s leading feminist bookstores.

“The world doesn’t lack bookstores for men,” she says, surrounded by piles of volumes by authors including Judith Butler, Simone de Beauvoir and Chizuko Ueno.