Making a wish for the new year is a tradition of superstitious Hong Kong Chinese. They are expected to flock to the Lam Tsuen Wishing Tree in Tai Po on 17 February for their ritual.

They write their names and wishes on a piece of paper, tie it to a mandarin orange, and throw the fruit and paper onto the highest branch of one of the banyan trees to hang. The higher their paper is on the tree, the higher the likelihood of their wishes coming true, The Standard (TS) reported.

There used to be three wishing trees, but a branch of one fell in 2005 due to the weight of the mandarins, injuring two people, so a plastic tree was put in in 2009, where people can hang their wishes. Racks were also added for hanging the wishers’ oranges.

Meanwhile, in mainland China, some people believe in feng shui, or the arrangement and positioning of objects and structures to be in harmony with nature, which they believe fends off bad luck and attracts fortune. The practice involves the use of mirrors for hard-to-adjust objects to deflect bad vibes and evil spirits.

In a residential neighborhood in Shanghai, a traffic mirror was placed in 2012 near a street corner but for another purpose. It was for safety, to prevent car accidents.

When accidents had been occurring in the past two months, the property management company of the community blamed it on the traffic mirror that was not properly positioned and adjusted it, the South China Morning Post (SCMP) reported.

Still, accidents occurred and, each time, the traffic mirror was found repositioned. The property manager learned that a woman resident of a unit facing the mirror kept turning it around.

In feng shui, a mirror facing the front door, windows, or the bed is believed to attract bad luck or bring trouble to the household, according to SCMP. The resident was apparently advised by a feng shui expert that her bad luck and poor health were caused by the traffic mirror facing her house.

When the woman’s husband surnamed Luo was interviewed by Shanghai TV, he called the traffic mirror “demon-revealing,” which in Chinese mythology could reveal the true identity of a demon disguised as a human.

“We are no demons. We are not happy having a demon-revealing mirror pointing at us,” Luo said.

The property management company installed another mirror on the opposite side of the road, so that vehicles coming from both sides could check out the traffic without Luo’s home being affected, SCMP reports.

Luo’s wife agreed but a few days later, her family suffered some bad luck, so she adjusted both mirrors again, according to SCMP.

The property company fixed the mirrors by cementing them to the ground while other residents reported the woman’s action to the police, who warned her that she could face criminal charges if a car accident happens because she moved the mirrors.