A Tibetan nun who set fire to herself in protest at Chinese rule appeared to have survived the self-immolation attempt, a rights group and a media outlet said.

The woman set herself ablaze near Nyitso monastery -- the scene of similar protests -- in Daofu County, an area with many ethnic Tibetans in China's southwestern Sichuan province, Radio Free Asia (RFA) said.

The report also said that the nun -- who has not been identified -- set herself ablaze at about 5:00 pm (0900 GMT) on Tuesday during a "large religious gathering".

RFA, which is backed by the US Government, said the burning is the 120th to have taken place in Tibetan areas since a wave of protests began in February 2009. Many of those who set fire themselves have died.

London-based rights group Free Tibet said a "clampdown on communications" had taken place in the area since the burning.

"She has been taken to a local hospital. Details of her current condition cannot be obtained due to the communications restrictions," Free Tibet said in a statement.

Self-immolations peaked in the run up the Communist Party's pivotal Party Congress last November.

Burnings have become less common in recent months, but two monks died after setting themselves on fire in Sichuan province's Aba prefecture in April.

Soldiers and police blockaded Nyitso monastery in 2011, after Tsewang Norbu, a 29-year-old monk, set himself on fire.

Beijing condemns the acts and blames them on the exiled Tibetan leader, the Dalai Lama, saying he uses them to further a separatist agenda.

The Dalai Lama, a Nobel Peace laureate who has lived in exile in India since 1959 after a failed uprising in Tibet, has described the protests as acts of desperation that he is powerless to stop.

Calls by AFP to police in Daofu County went unanswered.