Joss paper

"During the Cultural Revolution, burning joss paper was repressed as a “feudal superstition” but has since been tolerated. Every year, in this or that city or province, either local authorities or ecologically-minded Buddhist groups, claim that burning spirit money causes pollution and should be discouraged or banned. These measures, when passed, are widely unpopular. At any rate, banning paper-burning rituals in the name of ecology is different from prohibiting them because they are “superstitious,” although ecology may sometimes function as a pretext for ideological suppression of [Chinese] folk religion."