"It Does Not Matter What She Gives"...Chinese Street Vendor Gives Food to Elderly Woman Paying with Hell Bank Notes

Sometimes offers toy cards instead of real money
"We accept them so she does not feel ashamed"

A heartwarming story has emerged from a food street in Shandong Province, China, about a street vendor who has consistently given food to a woman in her seventies who offers "hell bank notes" (funerary money) instead of real cash.

According to a report on February 20 (local time) by Hong Kong media outlet the South China Morning Post (SCMP), the story took place on a food street in Zaozhuang, Shandong Province. The elderly woman, dressed in shabby clothes, would offer hell bank notes or toy cards instead of real money to buy grilled chicken legs, cake, steamed buns, and other food. However, the vendor did not question it and simply handed her the food.

Hell bank notes are ritual paper offerings burned to support ancestors in the afterlife. They are produced in a form similar to real banknotes, but they have no monetary value in the real world.

A street vendor is examining the ceremonial offering money (Jeoseungdon) handed by an elderly woman. Douyin

In a video released on the Chinese video platform Deouin, the elderly woman hands over hell bank notes, and the barbecue street vendor accepts them and gives her a chicken skewer. The video, believed to have been filmed on February 9, went viral, receiving about 600,000 "likes".

The street vendor, Liu Ruizhe, said, "The elderly woman has come to our stall almost every day for seven years. Some days she gives toy cards, other days she offers funerary banknotes," adding, "All she needs is something to eat. It does not matter what she hands over. It is not a big business, but we can certainly spare a little food."

The woman is said to make a living on the allowance her son sends from another region where he works. However, when she has no money on hand, she reportedly uses items she finds on the street, coins, or ritual banknotes to get food.

Liu said, "Sometimes the elderly woman shows me a 5-yuan (about 1,000 won) banknote, and that means her son has visited," explaining, "Whenever her son comes home, he exchanges several 5-yuan notes for her." He went on, "The elderly woman hardly speaks with local residents," adding, "That is because she uses a dialect that residents find difficult to understand."

He said, "If we do not accept what she offers, she will not take the food," explaining, "We accept whatever she gives so that she does not feel ashamed." He added, "She is originally a kind-hearted person and always smiles at those who treat her well." Other vendors are also reported not to have any particular complaints about her.

Local internet users who heard the story reacted positively, saying things like, "We pay our respects to the street vendors," and "Even if ritual paper is not an auspicious object, good deeds will eventually return as blessings."