Photo of the Day

The burning of 'Ghost Money'
The burning of "Ghost Money" is something that I see going on, I think, once a week. But I learned through research that July-August is Ghost Month and it is done more often. I didn't really think much of it when I first came to Taiwan. In fact, at first I thought they were burning garbage and there was no cultural significance to it. But apparently there is. The Taiwanese believe that burning paper money sends money to the ghosts, advances their wealth in the next life and helps in improving luck in business or family. Indeed, I see most of this happening in front of businesses as pictured here. As can be seen, food is also placed on a table as an offering to the Gods. After photographing this, I had to cross the street and walk by this burning can. The heat was intense and I thought I got singed almost! Not surprisingly, and tradition aside, this ritual is criticized for it's pollution factor. By the way, I believe it's a special kind of money made for burning and not money tendered for commodities. So I don't think they are actually burning real money.