Nan Ouyang is originally from Hengyang, Hunan Province, China. She is a Ph.D. student majoring in Chinese Religion and minoring in Japanese Religion and Geography. She received her B.A. in Public Finance and studied as a graduate student in History at Fudan University. Her main areas of interest include the history of Chinese Buddhism and sacred geography. Her dissertation is titled The Construction of a Sacred Place: The Pilgrimage to Mt. Jiuhua in late imperial China.