The Hell Bank: China's Money Transfer for the Dead
In the west, we believe you can't take your fortunes. In China, there's an entire market for it. It's called the Hell Bank.
One cannot take his wealth to the grave with him – this statement has been making Western minds sad for many hundreds of years. However, in the East it is an entirely different story, up to the possibility to invest in afterlife.
According to traditional Chinese beliefs, in the afterworld the deceased continue to live a life with all the social and economic aspects of a mortal one.
Ordinary human money can only bring harm in heaven, so the Chinese use money of the Hell Bank to send it to their deceased relatives. These notes are sold in specially allotted places and can be used for a number of reasons. They can even be transferred to your own account in the afterlife so that you could get there with everything ready if you passed away.
Recently the Hell Bank started accepting credit cards – the Chinese afterworld does not stagnate, but gladly introduces economic innovations.
Notes of the Hell Bank are burnt on certain dates, scattered with the wind, or simply left on the grave. Someone will say that it is utter nonsense. And we will say that it is a difference in mentality. After all, the only way to find out the truth is the empirical one.
