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

Delegates arrive at the NGO Forum on Women in Huairou on 31 August 1995, which led to a 12-point plan of action that remains a historic blueprint for gender equality. Photograph: Mike Fiala/AP

In September 1995, tens of thousands of women from around the world gathered in a sleepy town nearly 40 miles (60km) north of Beijing. The original plan had been to meet in the capital but, unnerved by such a large number of women, the Chinese authorities had insisted they stay a safe distance from the city in the settlement of Huairou, much of which was still under construction.

The government’s distrust ran deep: hotels were provided with extra blankets in case the women decided to stage an impromptu naked protest; movement between Beijing and Huairou was strictly controlled; and the unseasonal rain was blamed on a concentration of women menstruating.