In Chinese culture, if you dream about your loved one who has died and they tell you that they have no place to live, you may need to buy a “mansion” for $188 and “send” it to them.
This superstitious practice may strike people raised in other spiritual traditions as peculiar, but many Chinese immigrants are loyal followers of this religion. And in San Francisco Chinatown, a store sells all kinds of “luxury” goods meant to comfort the dead in the next life.
These fancy items are actually paper replicas, or “Zhizha 纸扎” in Chinese. The replica can be anything, such as mini-houses, sports cars, designer bags, fancy wines—even the latest iPads and Apple Watches. The cost may vary, but of course, the paper version is much cheaper than the real one.
Buddha Exquisite Corp. has been in Chinatown for more than two decades. Fung is confident that the tradition will continue because many Chinese cling tightly to their beliefs.
“Some people believe it; they’ll stick with it,” Fung said. “There’s not much preaching going on.”
Buddha Exquisite Corp.
756 Jackson St., SF
415-391-2806
Open 9 a.m.-5 p.m. daily
