The Ghost Festival, or ‘Zhong Yuan Jie’, is observed every 15th day of the 7th lunar month (falls on August 15 this year) when banquets are set up to honor the spirits of dearly departed or to placate lost souls with no relations.

In conjunction with the occasion, auspicious items such as rice, pineapples, charcoal packaged as ‘black gold’ (associated with wealth by the Chinese) are stacked on gold-tinted plates and elaborately wrapped to be auctioned off to the highest bidder for good luck. Cash raised is often donated to charity. Activities typically include Taoist monks chanting, preparing ritualistic food items, burning incense, ‘hell notes’ and joss paper offerings for the visiting spirits.

Interestingly, statistics from Taiwan‘s Environmental Protection Administration show that the volume of collective burning has grown almost 15 times to 3,800 tons of ‘ghost money’ from 260 tons five years ago.

The Ghost festival was kicked off yesterday by a Buddhist temple in Changhua, Taiwan where an estimated 10,000 people are expected to participate in releasing lotus water lanterns to light the way for drowned souls, organized over a 3-day period (below).

The 7th month of the lunar calendar is unique because of a Chinese traditional belief that spirits of the nether world are permitted to roam the earth freely, and that’s why it’s commonly known as the Ghost month.

Prayers are held to pay homage to deceased loved ones and ‘Pu du’ (universal salvation) activities for wandering spirits. Chinese street opera and rousing performances together with sumptuous feasts are organized by the associations to entertain both the dead and the living. View a short clip on the festival.