Shanghai old street

These are pictures from the old city of Shanghai and Yuyuan Garden.
Those big paper houses are part of a tradition here in China(and some
Asian countries) where family members get together to remember/appease
relatives who have passed away. They will buy fake money, clothes and
other items to burn, as a way to pass these objects on to a relative
who might need it in the afterlife. Wikipedia does a better job of
explaining:

"Traditionally, the family will burn spirit money and paper replicas
of material goods such as cars, homes and phones and paper servants.
In Chinese culture, it is believed that people still need all of those
things in the afterlife."

Here in Hanzhong I've only seen people burn the "spirit money" and
smaller items. But i suppose wealthy families might buy those houses
(some of which have completely functional lights and switches inside)
as a way to make their dead relatives more comfortable. A fellow
Chinese friend told me of his grandmother crying and saying "Here take
this money and go buy yourself a drink and get drunk" while burning
spirit money for his deceased grandfather. Its funny and touching.