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Taiwanese call for souls to come home -CNN news
(原來外國人是這樣講啊!)
Weeping loved ones set up homemade shrines near devastated villages to calm the spirits of the dead and honor the belief that their souls will return home after seven days.
"Grandma, my big brother, when you hear my voice, follow me," one man cried out.

China's government has urged America's new president-elect, Barack Obama, to oppose independence for Taiwan.
A foreign ministry spokesman said the issue was key to good relations.
The demand comes after Taiwan's President Ma Ying-jeou held a brief but historic meeting with a senior Chinese envoy in the Taiwanese capital, Taipei.
But the meeting was vehemently opposed by thousands of protesters, who object to the closer trade and economic ties agreed in a deal this week.
Taiwan has been ruled separately since the end of the Chinese civil in 1949; the defeated Kuomintang retreated to Taiwan to create a self-governing entity.
But Beijing sees the island as a breakaway province which should be reunified, by force if necessary.
'Stop selling weapons'
"We urge the United States to honour its commitment... honour the one-China policy and stop selling weapons to Taiwan," ministry spokesman Qin Gang told journalists in Beijing, after being asked to comment on US-China relations following Mr Obama's election win.








"Judging from the development of bilateral relations in the past years, the Taiwan issue is the most sensitive issue."
It has already been US policy to uphold the one-China principle which sees Taiwan as part of mainland China.
But it is such an important issue to the Chinese that they take every opportunity to restate it - and to ask others to restate it - says a BBC China correspondent Chris Hogg.
Earlier this year, one of the president-elect's senior foreign policy advisers made clear there were no plans for the Obama administration to change tack on this issue, he adds.
Last month the Bush administration told Congress it planned to sell more than $6bn (£3.8bn) worth of weapons to Taipei - prompting a furious reaction from China, and the subsequent cancellation of some some military and diplomatic exchanges, according to US officials.
Mr Qin's remarks come amid a five-day visit to Taiwan by Chen Yunlin, the most senior Communist Chinese official to visit the island since 1949.










Earlier in the week, Mr Chen agreed a landmark deal to improve direct trade and transport links, and on Thursday, he held a short but historic meeting with President Ma.
The two made a few cordial remarks as they exchanged gifts - a painting of a horse for President Ma (whose name sounds like "horse" in Chinese), and a ceramic vase for Mr Chen.
But Mr Chen's avoidance of the term "president" when addressing Mr Ma - a term Beijing considers would suggest Taiwan's independence - infuriated protesters gathered outside the government guesthouse where they met.
Fears for jobs
"This shows that China is only treating Taiwan like a local government," said Chang Bang-ni, a middle-aged businesswoman demonstrating outside.
Some protesters also voiced fears that closer economic ties with China could mean jobs lost on the island to the cheaper market on the other side of the Taiwanese Straits.
President Ma says this week's deal "symbolises a major step forward for cross-strait ties," and will "contribute to cross-strait stability and prosperity".
"But we cannot deny that differences and challenges still exist, such as Taiwan's security and Taiwan's position in the international community," he said in comments broadcast live.
"In the future, both sides should see the reality and should not deny each other's existence in order to promote the welfare of the people and cross-strait peace and to resolve our differences."
Mr Chen's visit has attracted daily protests since it began on Monday, and thousands of police have been deployed to ensure his safety.
On Wednesday night, crowds mobbed the hotel in which Mr Chen was eating, preventing him from leaving the building until well after midnight.
Last month, his deputy Zhang Mingqing was knocked to the ground by protesters during a visit.

 TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) -- Taiwanese President Ma Ying-jeou met Thursday with the most senior Chinese official to visit the island in nearly 60 years, state-run media reported.





Ma spent about five minutes with Chen Yunlin, the president of the Association of Relations Across the Taiwan Straits, at a Taipei hotel, according to the state-run Xinhua news agency of China. They exchanged gifts.
Authorities in Taiwan mobilized about 3,000 police officers amid reports that Ma's political opponents planned a rally to protest the meeting, Taiwan's Central News Agency reported.
Chen is in the midst of an historic five-day visit to Taiwan as he heads a 60-member delegation that has been meeting with its counterpart, the Straits Exchange Foundation.
"I feel like I'm standing at the crossroads of history," Chen said ahead of the visit, the state-run China Daily newspaper reported.
The talks will avoid volatile political issues and focus instead on economic cooperation, state media reported.
"The mission is clear and well-defined," Chen said. "No political issues pertaining to cross-Straits relations will be involved, nor will Taiwan's internal political affairs."

Chen signed a deal around on Thursday with Taipei Mayor Au Long-bin to swap rare wildlife with Beijing, The Associated Press reported. Chen offered two pandas to Taiwan in exchange for a Formosa sika deer and a Formosa serow, a goat-like animal, AP reported.
Chinese and Taiwanese officials agreed in June to set up permanent offices in each other's territories, in the first formal talks between the two sides in almost a decade. The Beijing talks also resulted in an agreement for weekend charter flights.
Cross-Straits talks between the two delegations began in 1993, a year after China and Taiwan informally agreed that the two sides belonged to "one China" -- although they did not describe what that meant, and both sides were free to use differing interpretations.
After that, the dialogue was delayed for five years over cross-strait tensions.
A second meeting in 1998 was held in Shanghai, but Beijing canceled a 1999 meeting when then-Taiwanese President Lee Teng-hui proposed that Taiwan and China treat each other as separate states.
Taiwan's new president, Ma Ying-jeou, has rejected the push for independence. Although Ma opposes unification with China, he campaigned on promises of seeking closer ties to the mainland, particularly seeking for Taiwan some of the benefits of China's robust economy.



Taiwan separated from China after the communists victory in the Chinese civil war in 1949. About 2 million Nationalists Chinese fled to Taiwan and set up a government there.
Beijing has always considered the island a part of China and has threatened to go to war should Taiwan declare formal independence