Greetings from a Shanghai temple where you can ward off bad luck in the Year of the Horse

NPR | By Jennifer Pak

Published March 11, 2026 at 8:27 AM MDT

It's the Year of the Horse, and for people born that year — watch out.

According to Chinese mythology, those born in the years of the Horse, Rat, Ox and Rabbit will clash with Tai Sui, a heavenly general. Luckily, there are ways to appease Tai Sui.

Shanghai's Jade Buddha Temple sells kits: a red envelope stuffed with incense, paper offerings and amulet — like the one in this photo saying, "Wishing you peace and blessings throughout your zodiac year" — for 40 yuan ($5.80).

On the envelope, a British friend of mine born a Horse writes down her name, birthdate and address. A Chinese friend suggests she add her passport number too (I guess in case there is another person with the same surname born a Horse). Then it's time to light the incense and pray.

My friend keeps the amulet for protection and leaves the rest of the kit for burning. Before year's end, she must return to thank Tai Sui.

Ignore the ritual at your peril. The year my zodiac clashed with Tai Sui, I did — and broke my wrist.

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Jennifer Pak

Jennifer Pak is NPR's China correspondent. She has been covering China and the region for the past two decades. Before joining NPR in late 2025, Pak spent eight years as the China correspondent for American Public Media's Marketplace based in Shanghai. She has covered major stories from U.S.-China tensions and the property bubble to the zero-COVID policy. Pak provided a first-hand account of life under a two-month lockdown for 25 million residents in Shanghai. Her stories and illustration of quarantine meals on social media helped her team earn a Gracie and a National Headliner award. Pak arrived in Beijing in 2006. She was fluent in Cantonese and picked up Mandarin from chatting with Beijing cabbies. Her Mandarin skills got her a seat on the BBC's Beijing team covering the 2008 Summer Olympics and Sichuan earthquake. For six years, she was the BBC's Malaysia correspondent based in Kuala Lumpur filing for TV, radio, and digital platforms. She reported extensively on the disappearance of Malaysia Airlines flight MH370. Pak returned to China in 2015, this time for the UK Telegraph in Shenzhen, covering the city's rise as the "Silicon Valley of hardware." She got her start in radio in Grande Prairie, Alberta where she drove a half-ton pickup truck to blend in – something she has since tried to offset by cycling and taking public transport whenever possible. She speaks English, Cantonese, Mandarin and gets by well in French and Spanish. When traveling, Pak enjoys roaming grocery stores and posts her tasty finds on Instagram. [Copyright 2026 NPR]