Fire in the Streets

As I was riding home from work Friday there were bunches of people burning papers in the streets. At first I thought it was just one or two old people burning garbage, but it didn’t smell bad enough for that to be the case and as I continued to cycle away from school there were more and more ash piles and fires burning. I finally got to consult my China expert, Selina, a Chinese girl I met purchasing my bike, and she told me that on that specific day each year people burn the papers for the dead. There is the belief that there is another world beyond the one we live in and when we die we go and live there. Just like this world, you need money to buy things in the other world as well. The people were burning the “money” that is used in the other world so that loved ones who have passed could continue to live in comfort in the other world. It is amazing how fires in the streets can change into something so much more meaningful when you understand the purpose behind them. I am so luck to have people with the patience to explain things to me!