Paper Offering Shops in Hong Kong

Hong Kong's paper offering shops

In the modern city center and the traditional markets of Hong Kong, you can still find a lot of paper offering shops.

Origin of paper offering shops

Chinese believe that after death, our souls will live in another world.  So the lonely souls still need friends, servants or daily necessities.  For catering their ancestors' lonely souls, people make different offerings for them.

The terra-cotta warriors in Xian were the offerings for protecting the soul of the first emperor of China.

That was too expensive and time-consuming to make the terra-cotta offerings. So people use the cheaper and easier paper to make the offerings.

Functions of paper offerings 

Nowadays, Chinese still make and burn lots of different kinds of paper offerings for their ancestors. They get them at the paper offering shops.

People burn the paper money for the ancestors.  Then the ancestors can ‘maintain’ their ‘paper houses’ and a ‘team of paper servants’.  They can even ‘play’ the ‘paper mahjong’!

People want to be rich.  So they want their ancestors in the paradise to be wealthy also.  So they burn the ‘paper Benz’, ‘paper I-PAD’, ‘Paper LV handbag’ etc. for the ancestors.

Paper offerings are an important ancestral worship channel for the filial descendants to mourn their ancestors.  They are also the emotional projection of people’s wishes.

Paper offering shops today

There are still a lot of paper offering shops in Hong Kong toady.  

The artists inside are the living cultural heritage because they know some fading skills, like making paper lanterns!

YOU can have a easy and enjoyable private tour in Hong Kong to learn more about the local religious culture.

Please contact Frank the tour guide for YOUR private tour planning.

YOU may browse the following easy and enjoyable private tour options for details...

half day Kowloon culture tour

full day Hong Kong Lantau tour