Hey, before this story I want to give you a little intro of my self. I’m a Korean American, and I lived in China, Beijing for 3 years (currently I’m in Singapore). My first year in China, my mom had hired a Chinese tutor, she was really nice and sweet (I would also say hot) girl in her 20s who was a bit ‘fragile’ and this will be the story that she told me.
I always enjoyed ghost stories often, and I nagged my tutor to keep telling me some. My maid (aiyi as the Chinese would call it) did not really believe her, but did always comment on people who sees ghosts are rather ‘weak’ and ‘fragile’ (like my tutor). One day when we were just chilling, she told me a story of how she started to see ghosts. This story might not be really scary but I swear it is true.
When she was little, her town was celebrating the Chinese New Year. If ever lived in China like I did, you will know how annoying yet fun are all those fireworks Chinese people crack up in to the air. Little kids will be scared of it as well. Anyway, my Chinese tutor was little(I think she said she was 10) and her and a group of friends would go a bit away from the town to the woods because they were scared of the fireworks buzzing at night.
They would all hold out there little lantern sticks (a wooden stick at the end there would be a lantern in it) and go deep in to the woods. My Chinese tutor didn’t live in the rural parts of China so there was a road through the woods. It was dark so the little kids all lined up. Than my Chinese tutor heard a giggle in the woods, so she places the lantern on the ground and she tried to reach behind this tree where she was hearing the giggle, thinking it was one of her friend. She reached in from the left but she felt nothing, and she reached behind the tree and she felt nothing. She heard a giggle once more, and realizing she is small (so with her arms she cant even touch the back of the tree) she went behind the tree but saw nothing. Thinking that her friend must have left my tutor just went back to the road picked up her lantern and raced to her friends.
Now they were walking with the lantern in a line. In the line there were 5 kids, my Chinese tutor was the 4th. However as they went she realized the kid on her back wasn’t talking to any of the kids in the line. She also realized she raced up to them, so actually she should be the last. So my tutor turned around thinking who the kid in the back would be, and suddenly she would see the lantern (with stick and the lantern attached to the stick) floating with no one holding it…
She was like ‘huh? Zhe Shi Shen Me? (what’s that?)’ and in front of my teacher said ‘shen me shi?’ (why what’s wrong?) and they both saw the stick with the lantern just floating. And when they went up a step the lantern just dropped on the ground. The kids (so now 4) went back to there parents after the 2 kids (including my tutor) persuaded them there is a ghost. Leaving that lantern behind.
After that the kids told the story to their parents. My tutor’s parents actually died early and lived with her aunt and uncle, who did not believe her and thought she was most likely seeing things because its late, dark and the fumes of the fireworks most likely messed up her eyes. Her friend however had superstitious parents and the grandfather tied a red blind fold on her eye for a week or a month (I forgot which it was). However my Chinese teacher did not have that, and she thinks unlike her friends that why she sees many ghosts in her life.
Sent in by Jin Choung, Copyright 2010
Wonderful story Jin. I always find chinese ghost stories interesting. Thanks for sharing.
yes, i too! i would love to see a chinese new year celebration!!