Ping Yao 

Directly opposite of the Government building across South Street on the east side of town is the Cheng Huan Miao, a daoist shrine where the local deity is worshipped. The Cheng Huan Miao is supposed to perform the same purpose as the Xian Ya, but in the afterlife, rather than the mortal world.

I'm outside the inner gate to the local deity’s shrine, and if you look on top of the gate here, it's got a sign that says "Gan Ru" and it's basically asking you, "Is your conscience clean? Do you dare to enter to see the local deity if you've done something wrong in life? I think I'm cool, cause I'm a pretty cool guy, so I'm gonna go in and check it out.

The entrance to the main shrine was intentionally made low, so that visitors would have to bow respectfully upon entrance. The roofs of this temple are decorated with glazed tiles called "liu li wa." The bright blue tiles are glazed with "peacock blue," a color of glaze that artists today still cannot duplicate. Other that the large shrine dedicated to the local deity, there are also shrines for the three gods of fortune: the wu, wen and zheng cai shen. These deities specialize in bringing fortune to various aspects of life, and people can pray here for success in business, academia, or life in general. The temple's walls are also decorated with murals from the Qing dynasty, which have survived for hundreds of years. There is also a sculptural depiction of hell, with its graphic representations of punishments given in the afterlife for the sins committed while living.

Many temples in Ping Yao have opera stages built directly opposite of the deity's shrine, where operas performed as offerings on holidays. These stages were also watched by a human audience, who would come to the temple on holidays and watch opera along with the gods. These offerings are like the radio reception between the mortals and the gods. It lets the immortals know, that the humans are thinking about them. The oldest stage in Ping Yao is in front of the shine of the fortune gods in the Cheng Huan Miao. Even though the opera was considered an offering people crowded in to watch, and even balconies were built for the mortal audience.

Hey, Hey, does my voice sound like hot buttered heaven? It should because this stage was especially designed to accentuate performers voices. If you look at the ceiling, there's a dome that is meant to increase the presence of the singers voice. Under the foundation, there should be a group of large jars that are suppoed to increase the bass sound of the voice, and resulted in a better sound for he human audience, as well as the spiritual audience.