Burning incense to get New Year petitions heard

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After the cheer of Chinese New Year's Eve, Spring Festival now turns more spiritual. Friday marks the first day of the lunar New Year. It's tradition to head to a temple to burn incense and pray. The number of visitors exceeded 85,000 for this site this year, setting a new record.

People believe burning incense and praying on the first day of the New Year will make their wishes more readily heard by the Buddha. The first to burn incense at the temple gets the best chance.

Despite the chilly weather, when our reporter got to the temple at 5:30 a.m., several hundreds of people had already been waiting outside.

The early ones even arrived at midnight.

Worshipers waiting‍ outside. /CGTN Photo

A worshiper said, "I got here at 12:30. I do believe that if you burn the first incense in the temple today, the Buddha will help you realize your wishes." He works in real estate sector, and he wants to have good business in the New Year.

When the rest of the temple was opened at 7:00 a.m., many people were running to the hall, trying to grab the spot as the first one who burn incense at the temple. And in no time, the temple was packed.

Worshipers are usually able to pray on their knees in the hall. But due to safety concerns, they are now only allowed to get close to the hall, bow and pray outside.

To avoid air pollution, the temple forbid visitors bringing incense by themselves, but it provided them with environmentally-friendly incense for free.

Worshipers come from all walks of life. And for many, family is the most important. A worshiper named Wang Jie came here with his parents and younger brother.

“I wish all my family members have a healthy and happy new year. More specifically, my wife is pregnant now. I hope she can give birth to our baby safely and without difficulty."

Coming here to pray has become a family tradition for some.

Burning incense. /CGTN Photo

A worshipper came here with her two-year-old daughter, her husband, her parents and in-laws.

"It has become a habit. We've been coming here to pray since I got pregnant three years ago. At the time, I wished for a healthy baby. We've been coming every year since then. It's been three years. We want to continue."

Our reporter also ran into a loving couple.

“I've been coming here since we got married two years ago. It's become a tradition for our new small family. We hope Buddha can give us a new little member to our family. We want to have a baby this year. “

Everyone here is different, but they all come for the same reason: To pray that the Buddhas will give them hope in the year to come.