Waiting 10 Hours on New Year's Eve for the First Incense: Religious Passion in China Overwhelms Official Ideology

A massive crowd of worshippers at Beijing’s Yonghe Temple on the first day of the Lunar New Year (screenshot from video)

People News - During the Lunar New Year of the Year of the Snake, people across China lined up overnight—some for as long as 10 hours—to offer the "first incense" at temples. According to media reports, China’s "temple economy" has become a new phenomenon, particularly among young people. But why are China’s youth increasingly drawn to temple visits? What deeper psychological reasons lie behind this trend?

According to Radio Free Asia, at 7 a.m., in the freezing cold of minus 10 degrees Celsius, six armed police officers stood in a row, guiding the crowd into Beijing’s Yonghe Temple to offer the first incense of the year.

This was the scene on the morning of January 29, the first day of the Lunar New Year. According to Beijing media, the first batch of worshippers at Yonghe Temple numbered around 40,000 people, with some arriving as early as 9 p.m. the night before, waiting nearly 10 hours—making it "China’s longest queue."

In Shanghai, Longhua Temple saw its first wave of worshippers lining up as early as 10 p.m. on New Year's Eve, January 28. To maintain order, the city implemented traffic control measures around the temple, requiring visitors to present a reservation code for entry. Public reports indicate that Longhua Temple received over 30,000 visitors on New Year's Eve alone, and more than 100,000 on the first day of the new year.

Similarly, temples across the country—including Lingyin Temple in Hangzhou, Xiyuan Temple in Suzhou, Daxingshan Temple in Xi’an, Wutai Mountain in Shanxi, and Dazhao Temple in Hohhot—were also packed with crowds of worshippers.

Guo Baosheng, a U.S.-based scholar of political religion and a former house church pastor in China, believes this phenomenon reflects widespread fear and anxiety about the future among the Chinese people. "Religious belief exists because human rationality is limited and cannot answer certain ultimate questions," Guo said. "The CCP has always promoted atheism, but in the past two years, with the pandemic, the economic downturn, and an increasing number of social tragedies—such as the deadly car crash in Zhuhai—people are looking to religion for psychological comfort and a sense of hope for the future."

Young People Become the Main Consumers of the "Temple Economy"

The rising trend of visiting temples, burning incense, and praying to Buddha has been significantly driven by young people.

According to a report by The Paper, since 2023, ticket bookings for temple-related scenic spots have increased by 310% year-over-year. Young people have become a key consumer group in this trend. Data from the Chinese online travel booking platform Ctrip shows that since February 2024, nearly 50% of temple ticket bookings have come from individuals born in the 1990s and 2000s.

On the internet, humorous phrases such as "Young people are choosing incense over ambition and classes" and "'Becoming a monk' is actually a way to better engage with the world" have gone viral. On Xiaohongshu, a social media platform dominated by young users, the hashtag #TemplePrayers has accumulated over 10.4 million discussions and 960 million views.

Ms. Guo, a former journalist in China, told Radio Free Asia that the enthusiasm among young people for "seeking blessings from Buddha" reflects the frustration of the modern workforce with real-world pressures and their growing anxiety about an uncertain future.

She explained, "The '35-year-old crisis' is a nightmare for many. Promotion opportunities are limited, layoffs are frequent, and workplace anxiety is on the rise. In recent years, China’s economic downturn has further restricted industry growth. Young people are realizing that despite working hard, their income growth remains slow, while the financial burden of buying a home, getting married, and planning for retirement keeps increasing. Additionally, China’s entrenched workplace 'hidden rules' have eroded trust in the system. More and more young people are feeling that effort alone doesn’t guarantee success, so they turn to burning incense, hoping for better luck."

Cheng Qing, an associate professor of history at Shanghai University specializing in Buddhist studies, attributed this phenomenon to broader societal changes in China. In an interview with Chinese media, he described China as having become a "performance-driven society", where individuals are subconsciously controlled by the pursuit of achievement, leading to self-exploitation. "If people excessively chase efficiency, the result is that they can never slow down," Cheng explained. "For example, even during the past two Spring Festivals, express delivery services didn’t stop. Chinese people have essentially become their own taskmasters, constantly pushing themselves forward. But everyone forgets that human endurance has limits—our minds and bodies cannot withstand such relentless work."

Of course, most young people who visit temples and burn incense are not devout Buddhists. According to survey data from Chinese research firm iiMedia, 56.5% of respondents said that incense burning is merely a way to relieve stress, while more than 60% felt that praying at temples is not necessarily about achieving specific results—it simply helps them feel better mentally.

Communist Party Members "Lose Their Ideals and Convictions"

Some netizens have commented that the true "first incense" may have already been reserved in advance by those with power and influence.

The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) officially guarantees religious freedom for major faiths such as Christianity, Buddhism, and Islam. However, Party members are required to be atheists and are explicitly prohibited from participating in so-called "superstitious activities" such as burning incense and praying at temples.

As early as 2007, the Chinese media outlet Democracy and Law reported on a survey of township-level officials, which revealed that more than 52% of them believed in fortune-telling, astrology, dream interpretation, and temple-based divination (drawing lots for predictions).

After taking office in 2012, Xi Jinping launched a sweeping anti-corruption campaign targeting deep-seated graft. He has repeatedly emphasized in speeches that CCP members must be "steadfast Marxist atheists." As a result, engaging in "feudal superstitions" became an increasingly risky activity.

However, it appears that officials have not been deterred. In January 2025 alone, the CCP's Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI) announced disciplinary actions against eight high-ranking officials, all of whom were found to have engaged in "feudal superstitions." These included: Luo Baoming, former Deputy Director of the National People's Congress Overseas Chinese Affairs Committee, who "lost his ideals and convictions... and engaged extensively in superstitious activities." Wen Zhiming, former Party Secretary and Chairman of Jiangxi Railway and Aviation Investment Group, who "practiced superstition for many years." Lei Shaoye, former Party Secretary and Director of the Hunan Provincial Department of Industry and Information Technology, who "relied on personal connections instead of Party organization, befriended 'political fraudsters,' and engaged in superstitious practices."

In 2023, the Pew Research Center, using data from Chinese academic studies, analyzed the extent of religious beliefs among CCP members and found that: 40% of CCP members believe in feng shui; 24% believe in Buddha and/or Bodhisattvas; 11% believe in Taoist deities.

Guo Baosheng, a political and religious scholar, believes this trend is due to the inability of communist ideology to provide fulfillment. He explains: "Even Communist Party members themselves are not satisfied. Marxism and communism cannot answer life's ultimate questions. They also need psychological support, they also feel uncertain about the future, and they seek something to rely on."

Exiled Chinese historian and rights activist Li Yingzhi sees this as evidence that "the CCP’s ideological foundation has collapsed." He states: "Anyone who grew up in China knows that from elementary school onward, people are left with no choice but to believe in the Party and communism. But now, with so many young people and CCP members going to temples to burn incense and pray, it shows that they have, in reality, abandoned the Party's grandiose rhetoric."