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Thread: Hungry Ghost Festival

  1. #1
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    Hungry Ghost Festival

    How is it we don't have a Hungry Ghost Festival thread here? Has it always been posted on the Taiwan-Ghost-Month-Doritos. This year's fest is interesting because of the corn moon.

    Covid-19 in the afterlife: Hong Kong shop sells joss paper face masks just in time for Hungry Ghost Festival
    Wednesday, 19 Aug 2020 12:34 PM MYT
    BY MELANIE CHALIL


    Social media users had a field day mocking the idea of face masks for the dead. — Picture via Facebook/Chris Goh

    KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 19 — It’s no surprise that joss paper shops sell just about anything for those who want to ensure their deceased loved ones are comfortable in the afterlife.

    But one shop in Hong Kong is taking things to the next level by selling joss paper face masks, just in case the Covid-19 pandemic finds its way into the spirit world.

    An image of the colourful paper face masks was first posted on Facebook’s Complaint Singapore page by Chris Goh.

    “Ghost month coming soon, anyone need mask can PM (private message) me,” he wrote, referring to the upcoming Hungry Ghost Festival.

    The traditional festival which falls on September 2 this year sees living descendants honouring deceased ancestors by a myriad of rituals, including burning joss paper in the form of material items such as clothes, money, houses and cars.

    According to Mothership Singapore, the Chinese words xian ren kou zhao are seen on the masks’ plastic packaging which roughly translates to ‘ancestor’s masks’.

    One joss paper mask reportedly costs S$10 (RM30).

    Hilarious comments soon poured in as social media users couldn’t get past the irony of selling face masks for those in the underworld.

    One user pointed out that these joss paper masks for the dead might be a useful gift for those who refuse to wear a mask to remind them of their mortality in the face of a pandemic.

    “Good, I need this as a present to those who refuse to wear a mask,” the comment read.

    “[I] didn’t know there’s Covid-19 there,” one Facebook user said.

    “Ghosts also must have social distancing,” another replied.

    “Is there no lockdown or circuit breaker down there?” one person said mockingly.
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    Gene Ching
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  2. #2
    ....and they love mask, lol

  3. #3
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    Ghost vaxing

    Ghosting Covid-19: Spirits get 'vaccinated' with offerings from JB store

    AUGUST 18, 2021
    PUBLISHED AT 4:20 AM
    ByLAM MIN LEEASIAONE


    Facebook/Yee Hen Trading

    Mansions are out and Covid-19 jabs are in — for paper offerings, that is.

    This seventh lunar month, a prayer paraphernalia store in Malaysia is offering 'Hell Covid-19 Vaccine' for the dearly departed as well as wandering spirits.

    While many might think the store's just keeping up with the times, there's a touching reason behind its latest paper offering.

    Store owner Raymond Shieh told The Star: "I felt bad for my customers, who told me that they wanted to fulfil their deceased loved ones' wishes of getting the Covid-19 vaccine.

    "I decided to give it a go since I specialise in handmade prayer paraphernalia."



    The 45-year-old said that he took about two days to come up with the prototype which consists of a large syringe and vaccine bottles.

    Sheih then shared photos of his latest creation on Facebook, and that was when enquiries poured in.

    Each 'Hell Covid-19 Vaccine' set, which can be customised to a customer's preference, costs about RM30 (S$9.60).



    As the world continues to battle the deadly coronavirus, other pandemic-related paper offerings have sprouted in prayer paraphernalia stores.

    A store in Tampines was seen selling 'face masks for ancestors' last August, but another one in Jalan Bukit Merah took it a notch further by offering a 'Virus Prevention Care Pack' consisting of face masks, hand sanitiser sprays, infrared thermometers, and safety goggles.

    Others decided to make their own paraphernalia.

    A day before the 'gates of hell' opened this year, a granny in Singapore borrowed her grandson's stapler, swiftly fashioning a face mask out of joss paper and raffia string.

    After his Facebook post went viral, Eugene Lim had to put a disclaimer: "If it's not obvious enough, no, we do not wear it. It's incense paper. We burn it."

    No matter how unusual these paper offerings are, don't forget to burn them in the metal bins.
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    I love paper effigies

    Hungry Ghost Festival: paper offerings artist on making ‘Star Wars’ helmets and chicken wings, but not Covid-19 face masks

    Although a “Hell Covid-19 vaccine” paper effigy in Malaysia is making headlines, Au Yeung Ping-chi, owner of Bo Wah Effigies in Sham Shui Po, says he doesn’t believe viruses exist in the afterworld
    Also called the Yu Lan Festival, this Chinese holiday is known for the paper offerings made of joss paper and bamboo that are burned for the dead to have in the afterworld
    Kelly Fung | 23:00pm, 20 Aug, 2021

    Kelly Fung
    Kelly joined the Post in 2018. She studied literature and cultural studies at university. She is studying for her master’s degree in journalism at JMSC, HKU. Telling the stories of local communities and individuals through her words and camera lens is what captivates her.


    20 Aug, 2021 Photo: May Tse
    From a paper effigy of a Darth Vader helmet to a bowl of the popular TamJai spicy noodle with chicken wings, Au Yeung Ping-chi’s creativity has no bounds when it comes to making sure that the dead are well fed and having fun.

    The 45-year-old Hongkonger has spent the last 20 years making impressively intricate paper effigies, which are created and then burned as offerings to those who have died.

    In Chinese culture, it is believed that the deceased will receive the item after it is burned, and in recent years, people have been burning smartphones, televisions and other items to keep the dead entertained in the afterworld.

    This Sunday – the 15th of the seventh month under the lunar calendar – is the Hungry Ghost Festival. According to Chinese tradition, this is when the spirits of the dead return to wander the earth and visit the living for a short time.

    Dubbed as the “designer for the deceased’’, Au Yeung is well known among others in the industry because of his experimental style. Using bamboo strips for the skeleton and joss paper for the outer layer, he crafts a wide variety of offerings such as scooters, vacuum cleaners, electric guitars and even a charcoal burger with shrimp.

    Photo: Au Yeung Ping-chiAu Yeung Ping-chi has even created a paper offering of a popular treat – a charcoal ebi burger. Photo: Au Yeung Ping-chi
    “Paper offerings are often perceived as taboo and old-fashioned. I want to destigmatise it,” he said. “The year I made the scooter, some journalists said I was a trendsetter.”

    A graduate of the First Institute of Art & Design, Au Yeung said that when he was young, he had never thought of following in the footsteps of his father, who started Bo Wah Effigies in Sham Shui Po during the 60s.

    “Before, I wasn’t invested in it because I was under my father’s wing,” he said, adding that he could easily avoid learning the craft since his father ran the shop on his own.

    “I didn’t communicate much with my father, so I wouldn’t ask him to teach me anything,” he explained.

    Au Yeung said he had only ever helped his father make lanterns when the business had received a large order, which was an opportunity for him to make money.

    But when he could not find a job after graduating from design school, and his father’s health was deteriorating, he wrote his father a letter asking him to retire and eventually took over the business.

    The artist said it took time to teach himself the difficult craft, and he regretted not learning more when he was younger. But as he practised more, he began to take pride in creating increasingly challenging pieces.

    Photo: Au Yeung Ping-chi This paper lampshade in the form of a stormtrooper’s helmet inspired the artist to make one of Darth Vader’s helmet as well. Photo: Au Yeung Ping-chi
    One time, a customer, who was a big fan of Star Wars, asked him to make a paper lampshade that would look like a Star Wars Stormtrooper helmet. Au Yeung was so happy with the final product that he went on to make a Darth Vader helmet to display at the store.

    “I don’t make the same thing over and over like other paper effigy makers in the industry ... every piece presents a new challenge,” he said.

    A few years ago, he took on the challenge of making a papier mache of food from a local noodle chain: a bowl of medium-spicy Yunnan-style TamJai rice noodles with pork and a side of chicken wings. It was a request from a man in his 20s who wanted to offer this to his late girlfriend, who used to love the noodle combo.

    Photo: Au Yeung Ping-chiThis paper effigy of TamJai’s Bandit Chicken Wings was a request from a young man who wanted to offer this to his late girlfriend. Photo: Au Yeung Ping-chi
    “I bought a takeaway of the noodles and studied how to make it,” he said. The chicken wings were very hard to make, and he had to use frozen chicken wings to form the shape.

    Aside from food, Au Yeung has also made electric guitars for famous artists. He crafted one for the late Ellen Joyce Loo from the well-known singing duo at17, who died in 2018. Because of how complex the model was, it took him a week to finish.

    Photo: Au Yeung Ping-chiAu Yeung Ping-chi made a paper offering of an electric guitar for Ellen Joyce Loo from the vocal duo at17, who died in 2018. Photo: Au Yeung Ping-chi
    Despite the fact that most of his artwork is eventually burned, the artist has never felt that these projects are a waste of time. He believes his job is to be the bridge between the worlds of the living and the dead, and to fulfil the wishes of the people who have lost their loved ones.

    Making sure that the noodles, phones and other items looked real was a way to show respect to his clients and to the deceased, he said.

    Earlier this month, a Malaysian paper effigy store was found to be selling “Hell Covid-19 Vaccine” for the dearly departed and wandering spirits during the Hungry Ghost Festival.

    Au Yeung received a similar request some time ago from one of his customers who asked if he could make face masks out of joss paper, but he declined because he was not convinced that viruses exist after death.

    “These days people want more practical items like daily necessities,” he explained, adding that paper offerings of luxury goods were no longer trendy, which could be attributed to the financial situations of the deceased when they were alive.

    His paper offerings have even attracted foreigners and art curators. In recent years, he has had the opportunity to create bamboo strip artwork for two local creativity hubs – he made clouds for the Jockey Club Creative Arts Centre and lamps for PMQ. These experiences made him realise that his paper crafts could have a place in art galleries, too.

    His goal is to one day open a solo exhibition to showcase his innovative take on a traditional art.

    “Paper effigies are not just something to burn. They can also be pieces of art,” he said.
    Hopefully after I die, someone offers my ghost paper nachos...
    Gene Ching
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    The Biggest and Brightest Full Moon of the Year is Coming Soon, and It’s Also Blue!



    It's also Ghost Festival this Wednesday. Spooky.

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    Hi; Moon we are back!!!
    Gene Ching
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    a Taoist take

    Feng shui, fortune-telling, exorcisms – a Chinese ghostbuster on curses, bad feelings in homes and the link between mental health and hauntings
    Ahead of this year’s Hungry Ghost Festival on August 30, we speak to a Hong Kong ghostbuster who uses Taoist practises to help spirits move on
    Andrew Kwan reveals how to recognise a house haunting, how he lifted a man’s skin-sloughing curse and what he did to help the ghost of an old Chinese gentleman
    Lisa Cam
    Published: 12:45pm, 29 Aug, 2023


    Andrew Kwan is a Hong Kong ghostbuster who helps spirits move on from haunting homes and people. Photo: Jelly Tse

    Andrew Kwan was born into the world of Chinese mysticism – his grandfather, from whom he learned his craft, was a fortune-teller at a temple and a Taoist.

    Andrew Kwan was born into the world of Chinese mysticism – his grandfather, from whom he learned his craft, was a fortune-teller at a temple and a Taoist.

    “He passed away in my early 20s, just around the time when I needed more formal training. I went to learn fortune-telling and feng shui with other masters,” says Kwan, whose services include exorcism.
    In popular culture, the exorcist has a dramatic role – he or she is one who banishes demons and devils from the mortal world. In Kwan’s world, the ethereal and the here and now are closely intertwined.
    “Other religions take the stance that spirits or ghosts should not exist, hence they banish or destroy them,” Kwan says. “I practise the Luk Yam branch of Taoism, which takes a gentler approach. We deal with them and try our best to mediate the situation before taking any drastic measures.”


    An image used to promote 1985 Hong Kong film “Mr. Vampire”, about a Taoist ghostbuster. Photo: Golden Harvest
    Fans of classic Hong Kong films will recognise titles such as Mr Vampire (1985), in which a swashbuckling Taoist armed with talismans and curses faces off against unruly vampires and ghouls.
    This version of exorcism is borrowed from the Mao Shan branch of Taoism, Kwan explains.

    Taoism has many branches, each with its own focus or philosophical take on the religious discipline. They grew in the same way that the Church of England and the Episcopal Church grew out of the Catholic Church, but with a more gradual evolution and fewer wars and upheavals.
    Luk Yam and Mao Shan are the two branches that mainly deal with spirits and ghosts in Hong Kong – and while “Mao Shan takes a more aggressive approach, Luk Yam is a lot calmer”, Kwan says.

    According to Kwan, signs of a haunting can include disturbances with electronics and appliances, such as the lights randomly turning off, the toilet flushing by itself, and toys or a television switching on at night.

    “I’ve had a client whose [foreign domestic] helper was hearing voices and feeling watched. When they called me, I found out it was an old Chinese gentleman who couldn’t move on; he was asking her for help,” he says.

    “We performed a ritual to help the spirit move on to the next realm. The helper said one night, when she closed her eyes she saw the old man smile. He thanked her and said goodbye.”

    Asked why he chose a discipline that deals with the ethereal plane when studying feng shui – Chinese geomancy – Kwan explains that it was actually part of the job.

    “When I started practising feng shui, I visited a lot of residences. Many people would complain about certain parts of their homes that were giving them a bad feeling or something a lot more disturbing. If it was a presence, I had to know how to deal with it.”

    Like any discipline, practitioners have different skill levels and specialities.

    “I had a client who was in a bit of a pickle – he was a creative who needed to travel to Thailand a lot. On one trip, he went to a massage parlour where the masseuse asked him to help with massaging another male client, because there was a rule at the parlour that female masseuses cannot work on clients of the opposite sex,” he says.

    “When he returned to Hong Kong, he felt unwell but doctors could not give him a diagnosis. He [started] sloughing off skin, and asked me for help. I found that he was transferred a curse in Thailand – that was a tough nut to crack because the curse was strong.”

    After the curse was lifted, his client’s skin healed but he still felt ill. Kwan says that he was haunted by a jilted lover from a previous life.

    “Compared to the old man who wanted to move on, this presence was very stubborn. We could only ask the client to recite some prayers every day to cleanse her presence. After a period of time, it worked.”

    The spiritual negotiator says it is not often clear how or why spirits come to haunt a person or a house.
    “I don’t think the old man had anything in common with the helper he was haunting in the practical sense, but we cannot think of the ethereal realm like we do our reality,” Kwan says.

    “A house might not mean a place, a person can be a connection. Sometimes it doesn’t take much at all for a spirit to be attracted to a person or a place, but it is a lot harder for them to haunt a person.”

    A woman burns offerings on the street during Hungry Ghost Festival. Some other customs during the festival, however, aren’t necessarily grounded in tradition. Photo: Winson Wong
    How can Kwan tell if the problems that he deals with are mental health issues or a haunting? “I have students who are psychiatrists who say they can’t tell the difference,” says the feng shui master.

    “Usually, if somebody says they’re talking to Buddha or Guanyin [the goddess of mercy who is more commonly known as Kwun Yum in Hong Kong], we can figure out that it is not a haunting, but sometimes it’s a lot harder to tell.
    “Just like psychiatry, we are only going by what the client tells us and it’s our job to ease these concerns.

    “By the time we usually get called, things have dragged on for a while and the client has tried a lot of conventional avenues. What does happen is that they’ve been troubled by the haunting for such a prolonged period of time, it does end up affecting their mental well-being.”



    Lisa Cam
    Lisa Cam enjoys reporting all things about food, travel and anything in between. She also draws on years of banking experience to write articles with business and finance interests. At the end of the day, she likes nothing more than kicking back with a good true crime podcast and cooking tried-and-true recipes from sticky old cookbooks.

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  7. #7
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    About those paper offerings

    Reflections by Wee Kek Koon
    Hungry Ghost Festival: old taboos, about swimming and answering to your name at night, messy offerings, and why I’d like to meet a real ghost
    This is the time in the Chinese calendar when ghosts walk among the living and need appeasing with offerings (BTW why burn paper money in the pay-by-phone era?)
    There are many taboos associated with the ghost month, but me, I’d like to see a ghost – to know there’s an afterlife, or at least seek winning lottery numbers
    Wee Kek Koon

    Published: 7:45am, 28 Aug, 2023

    It is common in Chinese communities to see people, such as these men in Wan Chai, Hong Kong, burning paper offerings in the street during the Hungry Ghost Festival – to help wandering ghosts when they return to the afterlife. Photo: Winson Wong

    The seventh month in the traditional Chinese calendar, which falls between August 12 and September 14 this year, is associated with ghosts that supposedly wander among the living during that period.

    These spirits, which may be of one’s dead relatives or any number of spectral entities, need to be appeased with offerings, failing which misfortune would befall one. A darker, more sinister version of trick or treat, if you will.

    The Hungry Ghost Festival, as it’s often referred to in English, is an amalgamation of assorted traditions: Buddhist, Daoist and folk beliefs of different Chinese regions.
    Many recent social media posts have shed light on the “true” origins of the festival and the “proper” way to observe it, but these prescriptive explanations are missing the point.


    Rituals for the Hungry Ghost Festival at Tai Kong Po Tsuen, a village in Pat Heung, Kam Tin, Yuen Long, in the New Territories. Photo: Nora Tam
    For adherents of folk customs and even established religions, what they believe in and the rituals they perform are never static. These have always evolved, sometimes to the extent of becoming unrecognisable from their original forms, and they will go on evolving.

    Different Chinese communities, both within and outside China, have their own ways of observing the Hungry Ghost Festival, but common among them all is the offering of incense and food to the unseen ghosts in our midst, which I’m sure you’ve seen in the last couple of weeks.


    Members of the Chiu Chow community in Hong Kong burn effigies of the Ghost King and the Horse God at Tai Kong Po Tsuen, a village in Pat Heung, Kam Tin, Yuen Long, in the New Territories. Photo: Nora Tam

    I do wish that a little more respect could be shown to the intended recipients of the offerings, which are usually made in a slapdash manner, without even the tiniest nod to aesthetic presentation – joss sticks or candles are stabbed into fruits, meats or sweets are laid out in opened Styrofoam boxes, their lids flapping in the wind.

    The way these offerings are made seem to hint at a grudging resentment. It’s as if the living are telling the dead, “Go on. Feed yourselves and then go away!”

    Another common ritual involves burning. Paper replicas of banknotes and chattels are burned in the belief that dead relations are able to receive and use them in the spirit realm, which apparently mirrors the earthly one.


    Paper offerings for burning to mark the Hungry Ghost Festival at Tai Kong Po Tsuen, Pat Heung, Kam Tin, Hong Kong. Burning paper money in the pay-by-smartphone era may not be of much help to ghosts. Photo: Nora Tam
    The problem with burnt offerings today is that they add to the air pollution, not to mention the copious quantities of paper used. While I understand that supernatural beliefs are seldom rational—why would digitally savvy ghosts with smartphones need so much cash?—environmental concerns must be addressed.

    Burning could be reduced to a minimum (one high-value gift voucher or cheque, for example) or even replaced by an alternative, digital offering.

    There were many taboos associated with the Chinese seventh month when I was growing up, the subject of stories and dares among childhood friends.

    There was the one that warned you against answering when you hear your name being called at night. Swimming was dangerous because malevolent spirits also love the water and they like your company a little too much. Clothes shouldn’t be left out to dry at night because ghosts would be attracted to the human-like shapes of hung laundry.

    There were many other cautionary tales, and they get more deliciously chilling with each retelling.

    I have long stopped heeding these warnings, whose main purpose is to forestall an encounter with a ghost. If anything, I’d very much like to meet a real ghost.

    It will be irrefutable, and reassuring, evidence that there’s some kind of afterlife beyond the threescore and ten years of our days on earth.

    It will also be a chance to get the answers to all of humanity’s questions: why is there suffering and death? What is good and evil, and why does evil go unpunished? What is the meaning of it all?

    However, if the ghost can’t answer these questions, then the least they can do is to give me the next winning Mark Six lottery numbers. In return, they will get a nice cut of char siu and a couple of apples from me.



    Wee Kek Koon
    Having lived his whole life in the modern cities of Singapore and Hong Kong, Wee Kek Koon has an inexplicable fascination with the past. He is constantly amazed by how much he can mine from China's history for his weekly column in Post Magazine, which he has written since 2005.
    I found this OpEd piece charmingly hilarious.
    Gene Ching
    Publisher www.KungFuMagazine.com
    Author of Shaolin Trips
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  8. #8
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    Today!


    Photograph: Courtesy Joshua LinPo Tai Hong paper offering shop in Sheung Wan
    What’s up with all the paper burning during the Hungry Ghost Festival?
    From simple joss paper to elaborate designer goods, paper offerings are still an important part of Chinese ancestor worship

    Written by Catharina Cheung Monday 28 August 2023


    Whenever the Hungry Ghost Festival rolls around, metal tins and mysterious scorch marks start appearing on roadsides across the city. Little piles of oranges accompanied by joss sticks can be found propped up outside buildings. Most tellingly, there’s usually a faint whiff of burning materials in the air and little ash clumps drifting everywhere. So, what’s the deal with all these old ladies burning stuff out in the streets?


    Paper offerings for spirits


    Photograph: Courtesy Joshua Lin
    Why do people burn paper offerings during the Hungry Ghost Festival?

    Ancestor worship is still a major part of Chinese culture – though the term is a bit of a misnomer, because this concept is closer to paying respects rather than a deified worship. It is believed that the gates of the underworld open during the Hungry Ghost Festival, and spirits are able to reenter the world of the living and visit their loved ones during this period. Chinese people will therefore burn paper offerings so their deceased relatives can receive otherworldly material goods and enjoy a comfortable afterlife.


    Photograph: Shutterstock

    Paper offerings: Money matters
    The most common offering is joss paper, also known colloquially as hell money. The sentiment behind this ceremonial offering is so that spirits won’t have to suffer any financial woes. It seems capitalism is alive and well (pun intended) even in the netherworld.

    Joss paper at its most traditional and basic level is thin sheets made from rice or bamboo paper. These are then decorated with seals, designs, and motifs, mainly to show what the joss paper signifies. Even within the spirit world, the value of different currencies is distinctly classified. The three major varieties of hell money are copper, silver, and gold – clearly differentiated by the large metallic-coloured square printed on the cream joss paper. Silver joss paper is usually burned for ancestral spirits, while the golden variety is offered exclusively to gods and deities.

    Even though the spirits of loved ones are on the forefront of most people’s minds during the Hungry Ghost Festival, lots of people across Hong Kong are kind enough to also remember the scores of spirits who don’t have anyone left to look after them by burning offerings. For this purpose, copper hell money – or simply called cash – is dedicated to spirits in general or spirits of the unknown.

    Usually, you’ll see these joss papers simply being burnt in loose sheaths. But sometimes, those doing the offerings may also fold the papers so they are shaped like yuanbao ingots, an ancient Chinese form of currency. Each sheet would be rolled up and the ends tucked into the circular space, which displays the copper, silver, or gold section of the joss paper prominently on the top of the ingot.


    Paper offerings: Modern variations

    Paper offerings: Modern variations
    Times have changed since the days of the simple metallic squares on joss papers, and more contemporary paper offerings include ones styled like legal tender bank notes (albeit depicting the deity who oversees hell, Lord Yama, instead of a president or founding father), or even credit cards and cheques.

    The practice of burning offerings of ‘monetary’ value has since evolved to encompass paper versions of pretty much any item that might be useful to spirits. More fanciful offerings can include papier-mâché clothes, houses (with or without accompanying papier-mâché servants), vehicles, luxury branded goods like Vuitton handbags, jewellery, and even modern appliances such as smartphones and electronic tablets.

    If you’re thinking of trawling the streets to spot people burning paper Rolex watches and convertible sports cars, however, you may be in for a bit of disappointment. The more elaborate paper offerings are usually burned in private ceremonies or funeral proceedings in cemeteries or funeral homes. Out on the streets, you’re most likely to see joss paper or ingots being offered.

    Apart from the obvious craftsmanship and artistic aspects of joss paper and modern paper offerings, this Hungry Ghost Festival tradition – born out of love and concern for the deceased – also presents an insightful glimpse into the personal aspirations of Hongkongers.

    Where to buy paper offerings and effigies


    Photograph: Courtesy Joshua Lin
    Zhun Shing Hong

    Bedecked with lanterns and other paper trinkets hanging outside its doors, Zhun Shing Hong can be a bit of an Aladdin’s cave to look through. But just like a treasure trove, you’re sure to spot something interesting.


    Photograph: Courtesy Joshua Lin
    Po Tai Hang

    Keep an eye out for some truly wacky paper offerings in Po Tai Hong. The Time Out Hong Kong team has spotted a full-sized slot machine before, and – in a very caring touch – even paper hearing aids.


    Photograph: Courtesy Joshua Lin
    Yuet Shing Hong

    Yuet Shing Hong sells a large range of supplies for offerings and worship. If you’re not already overwhelmed by the floor-to-ceiling walls of incense choices, you’ll also find a variety of joss paper and modern paper offerings, such as those shaped like luxury cars.
    Love me those paper effigies but all I'll be burning tonight (aside from the midnight oil) is incense.
    Gene Ching
    Publisher www.KungFuMagazine.com
    Author of Shaolin Trips
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