(VTC News) - Despite the potential risk of fire and explosion, people in Hanoi 's Old Quarter still compete to bring votive paper to burn in the middle of the street to send the Kitchen Gods to heaven.
At noon on January 22, after the ceremony to worship the Kitchen Gods, many families in Hanoi's Old Quarter brought votive paper to their front door to burn.
Along streets such as Hang Ngang, Hang Dao, Hang Buom, Hang Bong... are densely packed with joss paper burning furnaces, with smoke billowing throughout the neighborhood.
Around the streets and alleys in Hanoi, everywhere you can see people burning votive paper, the furnaces are placed right on the road, next to vehicles.
Image in front of a business on Ma May Street. According to the owner, because his motorbike was parked on the sidewalk, he had to bring the stove to the curb to burn votive paper. "Living in the old quarter, my house is cramped, so I have to burn votive paper outside the door. I will observe and be careful not to cause a fire or explosion and affect passersby," he said.
"This is an ancient custom. Burning votive paper is just to hope that the old year is about to pass and the new year is near, and the family's business will be smooth and lucky," said a resident living on Phu Doan Street.
Many people burn votive paper right in front of their family's storefront.
Mr. Long (on Hang Giay Street) sits in front of his house to burn votive paper after finishing his worship. "Instead of using a shallow basin or pot that can easily catch fire, I bought a cheap broken washing machine drum to use as a votive paper burning box," he shared.
Foreign tourists were surprised to see many families in the old town burning votive paper to send the Kitchen Gods to heaven.
"I find it quite interesting that every family here burns paper money. I guess this is an important day in Vietnamese culture," said Johan (a tourist from Canada).
Many people spread votive paper in the middle of the street to burn while traffic was heavy.
Previously, Hanoi Police issued fire safety rules when people burn incense and votive paper during the 23rd of December and Lunar New Year.
Accordingly, people should not burn too much votive paper, especially large quantities of votive paper; do not burn votive paper in prohibited places such as markets, shopping malls, places with flammable materials..., always take measures to prevent fire from spreading. Burn votive paper in containers made of non-flammable materials such as metal barrels (iron, stainless steel), bronze incense burners, concrete, brick houses... with tight lids to prevent embers from flying around.
Authorities also instruct people to have someone watch over the burning of votive paper until there are no more embers, arrange a fire extinguisher or bucket of water, and let it cool completely before dumping the ashes.
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