September 18th, 2009
Hungry Ghost Festival
The seventh month of the Chinese lunar calendar is Hungry Ghost month, when Chinese believe their dead ancestors come back to earth as ghosts. During the month, there are open air concerts at night to entertain the ghosts, and lots of burning of paper money and other paper luxuries, which are transferred to the ghosts for their enjoyment.
Large open barrels are located in housing areas for people to burn items day and night. Mostly, people burn items individually and with their immediate families. Sometimes, they gather for bigger burning ceremonies, like this one downstairs from our apartment building tonight. It also means there is a lot of soot in the air during the month…
