The Shaolin Monastery annually attracts millions of visitors from around the world. However, the overcommercialization of these sacred places may contradict the values and philosophies of Buddhism. This study aims to comprehensively understand the balance between commercialization and sanctity, engaging with 58 Chinese practitioners and educators in seven focus groups. Participants articulated their expectation to avoid overcommercialization, and they discussed the conflicts between commercialization and sanctity to further explore on how to mitigate overcommercialization. Based on the study findings, a balanced model of religious tourism development is proposed, and specific recommendations are offered to sustainably manage religious sites. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.