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Thursday, April 8, 2010

Che Kung Temple

During the Chinese New Year celebrations, you will visit temples to help change or maintain your luck in the new year. Che Kung temple is a famous temple where people go to spin a fan-bladed wheel of fortune, which, will bring good luck when turned three times. People also buy pin wheels to help change their luck using the same belief.

As you enter the temple you will see the smoke from incense hanging in the air like a fog. As you'll see from my photos it's an organized chaos of how people light up their incense offerings.
After the incense offerings, we went to spin the fan-bladed wheel of fortune and to bang on the drum to let the gods hear our wishes, before entering the temple. There you see a huge statue of Che Kung, where people continue their offerings to him. I didn't know it at the time, but photos aren't allowed there. So luckily I took a few before I was told not to.

You can also shake a bamboo cup containing fortune sticks. As you shake it you keep in your mind what you are asking about; family well being, fortune, health, etc. You keep shaking until one and only one falls out. If more fall out, you try again until only one falls out. Each fortune stick has a number that you exchange with an interpreter for a corresponding piece of paper, and the soothsayer will interpret the fortune written on the paper for you according to what you ask. Keep in mind not all soothsayers are the same.
































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