Store of goods for the afterlife

Says a blogger from New York aka samsebeskazal: "Never have shop windows been so deceptive. A lot of passers-by think that inside they sell children's toys or goods for some hobby, such as paper modeling. Some even manage to go inside with the kids, but then they run out into the street with confused faces after finding out what kind of store it really is. When there are rows of cardboard cars and houses in the windows, and cardboard iPhones and iPads are on the shelves, it's really not difficult to make a mistake. What else can you think, looking at all this? However, not one of these products is not associated with children's games or a hobby for assembling models from paper. Shops sell goods for Chinese funeral ceremonies and despite the seeming toyiness of the assortment, everything inside is more than serious and has a clear purpose. Giving something from this store to a living Chinese is about the same as giving you a wreath with the inscription "from friends"."

(Total 31 photos)

Source: Zhzhurnal/samsebeskazal

1. So what is all this for? Cardboard copies of real things are given to the deceased so that he can then use them in the afterlife. It is believed that in the next world a person needs all the same things that we need. He needs to live somewhere, he needs to eat something and he needs to somehow brighten up his leisure time. Therefore, anything can be such a gift, from a car to cardboard seafood. To complete the transfer process, these items must be burned. After that, they will appear in the next world in the form of real things. They do this not only during the funeral ceremony, but also during important holidays associated with the commemoration of the dead — Qingming and the Festival of Hungry Spirits.

2. There is a small altar at the entrance to the store. I will assume that a funeral was held nearby and the meat lies to appease the "hungry spirits".

3. Trading floor. The saleswoman was very nice, but refused to be photographed.

4. Houses come with swimming pools, parking lots, servants and security.

5. For some reason, the guards are only Hindus. Such a house costs $ 400.

6. Clothes.

7. Shoes.

8. Male.

9. And female.

10. A table with a computer.

11. On the shelves of the cape on the coffin.

12. Paper machines.

13. iPhones with charging, headphones, spare batteries, SD cards and a card reader. These things go for $20-40.

14. Alcohol and sushi.

15. Jewelry.

16. A set for gambling, so as not to be bored in the next world.

17. Another set of portable electronics.

18. Try to guess what it is?

19. Ginseng. In the next world, health is as important as in this one.

20. Dried and dried foods. Kind of.

21. In addition to items, there are also special afterlife money. Banknotes can either repeat existing banknotes, for example dollars, or be special, issued by the "Bank of the Underworld" with the image of the Jade Emperor

You can read about the Chinese "hell" in Wikipedia

22. Progress does not stand still and now credit cards have also been added to paper money. Money also needs to be burned.

23. A multi-storey building was found at the exit.

24. And pets.

25. The plane.

26. The store is located in Manhattan's Chinatown in a place called funeral row — "funeral row" (on Google map), there are institutions associated with this part of human life: a church, several funeral homes, flower shops and stores of funeral supplies goods.

27. Judging by the name, this funeral home has the same owners as the store where I was

28. On the corner there is another small shop of ritual accessories. Surprisingly, its assortment differs from the first one.

29. Here, for example, there are cigarettes.

30. Beer and coffee.

31. As well as new iPhones with an iPad. Just imagine, when Apple releases a new iPhone, it immediately has a Chinese cardboard clone for the world of the dead, which probably sells even better than the real one.

You probably noticed that all brand names have been slightly changed. Previously, the store sold cardboard copies with original names, but one day the cops visited it and arrested the owner for copyright infringement, because he sold them a paper copy of Louis Vuitton's bag. I am not against the fight against counterfeiting, but it seems to me that it is difficult to come up with an even more idiotic story from this area.