The seventh lunar month is on its way out and with its exit all the ghosts that have been let out of Hell for the duration of the month will have to return to where they came from.

The believers have offered prayers and delicious food to the wandering spirits so that they will not go hungry.
In many towns temporary stages were erected and performances were staged at night to entertain both the denizens of this world and the other world. In the more traditional communities, operas are staged but the newspapers have reported that times are changing and instead of traditional Chinese operas, there are nubile singers who not only sing but dance on stage to entertain the audience.

One can also see on the roadsides, burnt paper offerings and the stumps of joss sticks. There are also giant joss sticks placed along the kerbs in housing estates.
During this month, children are not allowed out when it is dark and no names should be uttered loudly for fear that the ghosts may harm the young ones. Marriages do not take place during this period as it is considered to be inauspicious.

The following month, the eighth lunar month is an auspicious month and the mid-autumn festival will be celebrated with moon cakes and lanterns. This is a month that everyone looks forward to and in fact the supermarkets are already selling all kinds of moon cakes. People are spoilt for choice this time with new concoctions created that we would never have dreamed of a decade ago. But more of that in the next post.