Chinese monk pays for shopping with over 200,000 coins
How do you say no when a monk wants to pay for his shopping?
And how do you say no when he pays with more than 200,000 coins?
An electronics goods shop owner at a Shanghai mall couldn't say no to the monk from Xingjue Temple (southwest Shanghai) - who walked into the store with an unusual request.
He asked to pay for 16 water heaters with 223,840 coins worth 10 fen each.
All the coins had been collected from donation boxes over the years.
The shop management had to ask a branch of the Agricultural Bank Of China to send their staff over to count the coins, which weighed 716kg - the combined weight of three oxen.
Other stores said no
Nine bank employees took a staggering 13 hours to complete the task.
It seems the coins were donated by visiting pilgrims and the temple had been accumulating them for many years.
The store manager said:
"The monk had asked if they could pay for water heaters with 1-jiao (0.1 yuan) coins that afternoon, saying if yes they’d buy 16 water heaters, but if no they’d only buy one."
Netizens are praising the appliance store for the kindness shown.
Chinese media reported that the monk had actually contacted many other electronics stores asking if they would accept his massive pile of coins and was turned down.
Now that the monk bought the heaters successfully, he's coming back for round two: To buy air-conditioners.
Sources: South China Morning Post, News.163 and Shanghaiist
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