Nice night for a zombie wedding

There’s excitement in the air, and just a hint of fear, as we join the nightly ghost tour in Beijing, a city famed for its restless ghouls and haunted houses.

The two-hour tour of the old hutong in the neighborhood of Houhai begins as darkness falls at 7pm, and I’m alert for any tricks  our guides might try to frighten us. But rather than a cheap horror show, it turns out to be a humorous trip that brings Beijing’s culture and history back to life.

Our guide, Daniel Newman from the United Kingdom, reckons people like ghost stories because they give us a rush of excitement which releases pleasure-causing endorphins.

In 2010, he founded Newman Tours, which offers specialised English-language tours of Shanghai, Beijing, Suzhou and Hangzhou.

Our journey begins outside the metro station, with Christopher Pegg, our other guide, informing us that the trains used to stop running at 11pm because ghosts are most active between the hours of 11pm and 1am in China. 

“My only suggestion if you find yourself on the metro after 11, is to keep a close eye on who is riding with you,” he says, and winks.

We follow Pegg to Prince Gong’s Mansion nearby, one of the most extravagant residences in the capital. Under the dim streetlight, he tells us of the Empress Dowager Cixi, a powerful woman who controlled the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) for 47 years with the help of her brother-in-law Gong. Her hated rival was Consort Zhen – the favourite concubine of Emperor Guangxu. 

When the Eight-Nation Alliance invaded in 1900, Cixi took her opportunity to eliminate Zhen, and got several eunuchs to throw her down a well in the Forbidden City.

“Rumour says that when people fished her body out, it showed few signs of death. People surmised that she was already a ghost, just waiting to get revenge on Cixi,” says Pegg, who whips out his tablet and shows us photos of the lady in question and a mischievous short video about how she was killed.

“Ghost stories tell us a great deal about the history and culture of the societies in which they evolved. Also, a lot of the stories you hear on our ghost tours played an important role in China’s history,” comments Newman.

By this time, gremlins are beginning to gnaw at our stomachs, and our guides make a welcome stop at the local barbecue place. They suggest we try the spooky speciality – barbecued sea horse, starfish and small scorpions. Despite our hunger, we pass.

Back out on the road, Newman picks up the story. “Chinese ghosts are more varied and ‘open-minded’ than their Western counterparts. I believe it’s because Chinese polytheism – Buddhism, Taoism and Confucianism – exist simultaneously and are not contradicting one another.”

We are so intrigued by the excellent stories that follow from Pegg, that we are not aware Newman is missing until we bump into a “Chinese vampire” in Houhai Park. The whole group bursts into laughter as a zombie dressed in Qing Dynasty-style costume, suddenly bounces toward us.

The ghost screams then asks one of the women in the group to marry him so as to fulfil his last wish. Accompanied by laughter from us and others in the park, the poor woman had to exchange vows and tokens with him, so he could bounce happily on his way.

Making my way home after the tour, I couldn’t help observing other passengers on the metro a little more closely than usual, looking for signs of the supernatural. After all, it was almost midnight.