Recently, monks paid for 16 water heaters with more than 220,000 coins in a Shanghai mall, nearly driving the seller crazy.

Monks from Xingjue Temple carry more than 220,000 coins to a Shanghai mall to buy water heaters. The coins came from donations from pilgrims over many years. [China.org.cn]

The monks were from Shanghai's Xingjue Temple. They wanted to buy water heaters for their temple by using 220,000 1 jiao (0.1 yuan) coins accumulated over many years. The coins were collected from donation by tourists and Buddhists one by one, begging for fortune and blessing from Buddha.

"A monk had asked if they could pay for water heaters with 1 jiao coins that afternoon, saying if yes they'd buy 16 water heaters, but if not they'd only buy one," said Ms. Cai, manager of Shanghai Yong Le Appliance Store.

Cai said the monks told her they had contacted several malls but had been turned down. Cai agreed and the mall asked the local branch of the Agricultural Bank of China for help.

The bank's staff counted the coins for 13 hours and found that there were 223,840 coins (22,384 yuan), weighing 716 kg, equal to three adult oxen. If you piled the coins up, the total height would be as high as the Empire State Building in New York, one bank worker said.

Cai said the monks were very satisfied with the store and told her that they would return again with more coins to spend.

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