There is no doubt that the Qingming Festival is the busiest period for the market of sacrificial offerings. The items range from traditional paper money, incense sticks, and ingots to paper-made "nannies," "maids," "villas," and "sports cars." It seems that the pace of life in the "Underworld" does not differ much from real life. Yesterday (April 2), reporters discovered during an interview that some stalls selling sacrificial goods had introduced new products: "mahjong sets" and increasingly realistic sets of "household appliances." One boss even claimed that if customers needed, they could pre-order "bras" and "thong underwear."
**Scene: Everything Available from the 'Netherworld'**
Yesterday, at a shop on Qunzhong Road selling sacrificial goods, shelves were filled with a set of "household appliances" worth only hundreds of yuan: wall-mounted air conditioners for 25 yuan, floor-standing air conditioners for 35 yuan, washing machines for 40 yuan, refrigerators for 40 yuan, televisions for 15 yuan... All these items were labeled as produced by "Netherworld Appliances." Reporters noticed that their craftsmanship was crude; they were merely rectangular or cubic shapes made of paper, with a few hastily drawn lines to indicate their identity. For example, the refrigerator would have two extra doors painted on it, while the television would have a screen drawn on its shell. Some more refined ones even featured awkward trademarks and simulated broadcast "images" on the "screen," mostly scenes excerpted from books.
"Each item has increased by 5 yuan compared to last year," the boss chuckled, explaining that this type of paper sacrificial offering becomes increasingly realistic each year. With rising prices, all prices have gone up. "Don't underestimate the cost of buying a set, which might not seem expensive individually, but if a family has many elders, they could easily spend over a thousand yuan." He then began promoting a set of famous cigarettes, alcohol, and tea produced by the "Netherworld Food Factory," including "imported liquor" and "Coke."
On both sides of the road outside Mopan Mountain Cemetery, there were even more varieties of paper-made sacrificial offerings. In addition to the common villas, sports cars, shirts, gold bars, silver bars, and ingots, there were also complete sets of kitchen appliances: gas stoves, dishwashers, liquefied gas tanks, etc., as well as watches, necklaces, mobile phones, glasses with golden frames, credit cards, and other full sets of equipment.
**Investigation: "Bras, Thongs" Can Be Custom-Made**
At 2 PM, on the street near Wenshu Temple, a woman pushed her bicycle along, calling out to sell her wares. A string of "silver ingots" swayed gently in the wind on her rack. This Ms. Yang said she had been doing this small business for three years. "In the past, people just burned paper money and incense. Now burning 'villas,' 'refrigerators,' 'sports cars,' etc., isn't surprising anymore." Modestly, Ms. Yang said her selection was limited, and she wanted to show reporters the "good stuff."
"Here, there are many varieties, guaranteed to have what you want!" In a small alley, Ms. Yang pointed to the shops on both sides of the alley: paper jewelry, paper servants, paper clothes, paper mahjong sets, paper mobile phones, paper computers... Every item from real life was represented in the sacrificial goods stores. In one unnamed small shop, Ms. Yang called out, "Bring out all your good stuff," and the boss quickly recommended a new product: a mahjong set with a round paper piece in the middle featuring the directions "East, South, West, North." "This is a new product this year, electronic mahjong!" The boss added that if customers needed more personalized sacrificial items, they could be custom-ordered in advance, such as underwear.