Throughout your time in Taiwan you will encounter the burning of paper offerings — “ghost money”（冥紙）, paper representations of luxury goods, clothing, and household items — both at roadside shrines and in specially designated incinerators at temples. This practice is part of the same logic as the food offerings: the deceased and the spirits require material support in the afterlife, and the burning transmits paper surrogates of valuable things from the living world to the spirit world.

The environmental implications of large-scale paper burning have generated considerable debate in Taiwan in recent decades, and there are active government and NGO campaigns to reduce the volume of burning, substituting digital offerings or reducing the scale of ceremonies. The tension between environmental concern and religious tradition is navigated differently by different communities, and it is a live conversation in Taiwanese society — not a closed question.