Ever since the brief discussion I had with Scottitee of The Fox Spirit about what people in China believe about ghosts, I’ve kept my eyes open for more info on the topic. In particular for anything that has to do with paranormal tourism there.
After reading Scottitee’s explanation on how the Chinese view ghosts and have a healthy respect for them, I didn’t think paranormal tourism had much of a future in China. Still, I figured since they do at least believe in ghosts and pass on ghost stories, there might be a market there.
That’s why I was excited when ghosts in China info suddenly manifested this week. First in the form of a blog story about a ghost tour starting up in China, then in the form of a famous Chinese landmark explored on one of my favorite shows, Destination Truth.
NEWMAN TOURS BRINGS GHOST TOURS TO SHANGHAI
Earlier this week, Urbanatomy’s post “Spooky Shanghai” popped up in my Google Alerts. I about popped off my rocker with excitement when I went on to learn that entrepreneur Daniel Newman was launching a new tour company in China: Newman Tours. The company offers four different tours:
- Bund Tour
- French Concession Tour
- Ghost Tour
- Bespoke Tour
Urbanatomy’s writer got to take a test drive, sneak peek preview of the ghost tour and shared some of the stories included on the tour. Such as the Paramount Dancing Girl who was murdered after refusing to dance with a Japanese officer but is still said to be seen dancing on the premises.
Or the Paramount Scaffolding Ghost, who is rumored to be the ghost of a man who fell from the building’s scaffolding and died. But he doesn’t just appear. Oh no, those ghosts in China seem to come back ready to taunt the living. He supposedly “chucks stuff at pedestrians.” Nice.
However, not all of the ghost stories told on the Shanghai ghost tour come from true life accounts of those who met unfortunate demises. The tour owner admits to making up at least two of the stories told on the tour. (Not the ones related above, though.)
That was the only thing I was disappointed to learn. (Since I’m a stickler for sticking to ethics.) However, I’ll give Daniel Newman kudos for at least admitting to his creativity instead of trying to pass it off.
DESTINATION TRUTH SURVIVES THE GREAT WALL OF CHINA
Just like Scottitee alluded to, the Chinese don’t dismiss their ghosts as easily as us Westerners tend to. That even became clear as I watched Josh Gates and his crew venture in search of ghosts on a part of China’s Great Wall known for them.
The locals all had a healthy respect for the ghost stories. None thought it was wise to seek the spirits out. Josh even was warned about the dangers that could come from encountering them.
But I don’t think it’s the spirits that Josh ever has to worry about being done in by. If he’s not killed in one of his Rent-a-Wrecks, or from any of the local delicacies he’s always a sucker for trying (which on last night’s episode included silk worms, fried lizards, and scorpions…yum!), the destinations will do him in.
Like last night. Ryder almost bit it rappelling down the missing piece of wall, and then Medic Rex almost sailed off the wall completely when his footing gave out and he suddenly found himself sliding out of control for the edge. Sheesh.Who needs creatures or apparitions when the team’s antics alone will get your heart racing?
Seriously though, kudos to Destination Truth for somehow getting the Chinese government to grant Josh and the DT team permits for an overnight investigation of the Great Wall of China. It was great fun getting a chance to vicariously Haunt Jaunt to China like that.
(Since I don’t know that China will ever be a place on my Haunt Jaunts list, and even it if was until now it’d been hard finding Chinese ghost stories to get excited about. Maybe that’ll all change now and more will start cropping up.)
FYI
If you missed Destination Truth, here’s a couple of places you might want to check out for great recaps:
- Julie from Above the Norm usually posts show recaps on Ghost Hunters Investigations the day after the shows air.
- The Rotten One also sometimes posts show recaps on Rotten Works.
Courtney Mroch is a globe-trotting restless spirit who’s both possessed by wanderlust and the spirit of adventure, and obsessed with true crime, horror, the paranormal, and weird days. Perhaps it has something to do with her genes? She is related to occult royalty, after all. Marie Laveau, the famous Voodoo practitioner of New Orleans, is one of her ancestors. (Yes, really! As explained here.) That could also explain her infatuation with skeletons.
Speaking of mystical, to learn how Courtney channeled her battle with cancer to conjure up this site, check out HJ’s Origin Story.
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DT was good as always. I was fascinated to hear that Team Truth, as Josh calls them, was the first to investigate the Great Wall. They did have some mishaps of team members falling but Josh being touched, his equipment being turned off and that creepy voice made that adventure fun to watch. I did finally get my recap up. there is so much infomation and other crazy Josh antics going on that it takes me longer to recap this show as to Ghost Hunters. I do love it…
DT is great! And so are your recaps, because sometimes I fall asleep and don’t see it all. I still DVR it, but the darn thing sometimes cuts off before the end so I don’t always see what was made of certain evidence. So then I jog to your recap for a review. VERY helpful! 😉