Burning Down The House: Scenes from the Hungry Ghost Festival in Ganzhou, China

Near Jianchun Gate (建春门) in Ganzhou

Last Thursday next to the ancient city wall alongside the Gong River (贡水) in Ganzhou, Jiangxi, I noticed a number of people burning ghost money — imitation paper currency.

Near Donghe Bridge (东河大桥)

Thursday was the first of three days in Ganzhou when people conducted rituals for Saturday's Hungry Ghost Festival (中元节), also known in English as the Ghost Festival, the Yulan Festival, and Zhongyuan Jie. The holiday is similar to the Qingming Festival in terms of burning paper replicas to send items to people in the afterlife. The National Library of Singapore has a useful overview of the holiday in general while also pointing out some details specific to Singapore and other countries while also covering some differences between Taoist and Buddhist beliefs regarding the holiday. Baidu Baike has an article (Chinese) detailing some of the specific practices in various parts of China.

On Saturday, while walking down Xijiao Road (西郊路) I noticed a lot of smoke in the distance. And that is how I stumbled upon one of the multiple sites the local government had established for the burning rituals.

The video below captures more of the living reaching out to spirits there.

At a location next to the old city wall bordering the Zhang River (章水), I came across another sanctioned site — this one more scenic.

Near Xijin Gate (西津门)

While there, I saw some people preparing to send a house, car, and other items to the spirit world.

Soon flames began engulfing the house.

The video below captures later stages of the house's journey and also some of the other offerings occurring in the near vicinity.

One advantage Saturday provided was a rare break from the recent hot weather. One disadvantage Saturday provided was occasional strong winds. The video below was taken later at the same area and captures how ghost money was flying about, sometimes while burning, at times. I didn't see anybody get hurt, but it was definitely worth staying alert.

During the earlier evening I came across another approved site, this one at an area where buildings had been demolished between Xijin Road (西津路) and Xingan South Road (新赣南路).

I also saw offerings being made or signs of recent offerings on a smaller scale at a number of locations which didn't appear to have been designated by the city. All of the government approved sites I came across had government employees, easily identifiable with their red hats, keeping an eye on things. The site near Xijin Gate also had a few chengguan, urban management officers, around. There were frequent sounds of firecrackers around the city, but I only heard a single one go off at the approved sites. Apparently since it was isolated explosion — unusual —a chengguan who clearly wasn't happy about it didn't intervene beyond sharing a stern word.

In my personal experience, I have never before seen so many people observing the holiday elsewhere in China. I'm not sure whether that speaks more to luck or regional variations in the holiday's observance, though I suspect the latter has a significant role. In any case, there was a lot of fire in Ganzhou during the holiday and possibly many pleased ghosts as well.

An Unexpected Ganzhou Rainbow

While walking outside bit after 6 p.m. today in Ganzhou, I saw in the distance a woman appearing to take photos with her mobile phone. I paid particular attention since she was photographing in my direction, and I couldn't think of anything especially remarkable in the scene behind me. As I got closer, I could tell her phone was aimed slightly upwards, seemingly towards the sky. My first guess was there might be a beautiful cloud in the sky. Now I couldn't resist, and I turned around.

I'm glad I did. I took a photo of the big rainbow in the sky myself. The woman then approached and asked if I could take a photo of her and the rainbow with her phone. She expressed surprise when I counted down to taking the photo using Chinese numbers. After that was finished, I quickly headed to another location. A nearby river with a mountain in the distance would be a great setting to capture the rainbow. Unfortunately, the rainbow was already quickly fading. So I took a photo halfway to my intended destination. The rainbow was gone shortly thereafter.

I haven't seen many rainbows in China, though I did catch one several months ago in Qingyuan. In that case, a recent rainstorm and the sunlight afterwards caused me to look for one. Today, there was nothing I noticed which would have made me think a rainbow could be around. A big thanks to the woman. I probably would have missed the rainbow if not for her.

Some regular readers might now be wondering if me sharing this story indicates more delay for a post I mentioned yesterday.

Well . . .

Um . . .

Look! Rainbow!

A Riverside Can in Ganzhou

I'm not yet finished with what I had originally hoped to post today. Uploading three large video files through a VPN across the Great Firewall added to the challenge, but I'm happy to say at least that part has been successfully completed. For now, below is a related photo taken next to the Gong River which serves as a bit of a teaser.

Much more burning is on the way — most of it somewhat controlled.

Seated Poses in Ganzhou

A number of places sell art or antiques towards the southern end of Bajing Road (八境路) in Ganzhou. The two paintings sitting outside an art studio in the above photo stood out from many of the Chinese-style pieces nearby, and they captured scenes foreign in location and time.

Boys With Big Branches in Ganzhou

Similar to a confrontation with four boys in Maoming four years ago, the other day in a park alongside the Zhang River in Ganzhou I met two boys with weapons.

Once again I was spared, and they allowed me to pass.

I didn't try taking a seat though.

Nighttime Xiangqi in Ganzhou

Don't Worry in Ganzhou

Sleeping in Ganzhou

Time for some sleep . . .

Balloon Sculptures, Singing, and a Pelvic Thrusting Dinosaur: The Grand Opening of a Jewelry Store in Ganzhou, China

When I stopped by a jewelry store with a notable logo on the afternoon of its opening day in Ganzhou, Jiangxi province, there were a few customers inside, but all was otherwise quiet. Especially given the hot weather and low pedestrian traffic at the time, this wasn't so surprising.

When I stopped by again later in the early evening, the weather had cooled down and the activities to celebrate the grand opening had heated up. Given what I have seen at a variety of promotions elsewhere in China, I wasn't too surprised to see somebody wearing an inflatable Tyrannosaurus costume entertaining people, especially children.

At an entrance to the store, somebody else was creating balloon animals and sculptures. I have seen the same thing at a number of jewelry stores elsewhere.

There was also a stage set up besides the store. While I was there a woman sang, also not so uncommon for events likes this one.

But then things came together in a way that wasn't so typical in my experience, and it was something to behold.

I didn't know a Tyrannosaurus could move like that.

On reflection, the movements were somewhat similar to how some cockatoos dance to music. Not only are birds dinosaurs, but the Tyrannosaurus is more closely related to a bird than to a Stegosaurus. Perhaps that's what the person had in mind, though I am not aware of any birds dancing quite the same way.

In any case, the dancing felt a bit surreal to watch. I can't put the experience fully into words, so I have shared a bit of it in the video below. Although the Tyrannosaurus stopped dancing, or whatever it was doing, and returned to other activities while I watched, I kept filming a bit longer. There is more to observe than just the dinosaur, though it steals the show.

Take a look:

A Curiously Misleading Logo: Not China Gold in Ganzhou

Late last night I saw preparations for a new jewelry store in Ganzhou, Jiangxi province. I called it a China Gold store in my post, in part because the logo for the store appeared to be a merger of the letters C & G and I didn't know they hadn't yet placed all the characters for its Chinese name on the storefront sign. The logo seemed unfamiliar, however, which caused some rumblings in the back of my mind.

Today the sign was complete, and the store was already open for business.

With the full Chinese name displayed, "中国金銀珠寶" (Zhōngguó Jīnyín Zhūbǎo), I realized it wasn't a store for the chain I had previously had in mind, 中国黄金 (Zhōngguó Huángjīn). Zhōngguó Huángjīn uses the English name "China Gold", a literal translation of the Chinese name, and the stores are franchised by a large state-owned enterprise based in Beijing — China National Gold Group Corporation — which also commonly uses the name "China Gold". I shared a photo of a China Gold store earlier this year in a post about International Women's Day Sales in Jiangmen, Guangdong. Their logo is visually distinct from the one used by the store in Ganzhou.

I didn't see any English names at the Ganzhou store today. The best I could easily find online relates to the Hong Kong registration of a company with the same Chinese name. They used "China Gold Silver Jewellery", also a literal translation of the Chinese name. I can't see a CGSJ acronym in the Ganzhou stores's logo though.

Whatever name the company would prefer to see used in English, their logo is not only notable for its similarity to the Chanel and Gucci logos but also for it capturing the acronym of a well-known competitor's English name. Both issues seem unlikely to be coincidences. The logo probably wouldn't leave either Chanel, Gucci, or China Gold very happy.

New China Gold in Ganzhou

Late night work for a new jewelry store on Dongyangshan Road in Ganzhou

Correction: I previously captioned the photo indicating the jewelry store was China Gold, in part due to the apparent CG acronym in the logo. However, it isn't a China Gold store. More about that in a more recent post here.

Elevating Ganzhou

Construction at Wenming Avenue in Ganzhou, Jiangxi