An AFP report about the revival of traditional beliefs in China:

Despite decades of atheist communist education, Chinese people are reverting to superstition and traditional practices like never before.

These include paying to rub a stone monkey in a temple to bring good luck for the Year of the Monkey, buying Chinese horoscopes and fortunes for as much as 100 yuan (12 US dollars), buying anything red--red belts, strings of plastic red peppers, and even underwear to ward off evil. There are taboos against cutting one's hair, sweeping the floor or talking about death in the New Year period. On the other hand, people are preparing to illegally set off firecrackers to ward off evil spirits.

Even the image of the late Chairman Mao Zedong, who tried to wipe out superstitious practices during his decades-long reign, is being sold on decorative chains alongside statues of Buddha and the Fortune God.

What's interesting is I found this via a report in Chinese on the VOA. I might have expected the secular French to sneer at superstition, but one man's superstition is another's religion. Isn't the US position that religion is a Good Thing?

Speaking of superstition, I mean traditional belief, I don't think I heard about paying 2.33m yuan ($280,000) for the telephone number 8888 8888. Silly, but the auction was a good idea.