10 Chinese Horror Urban Legends That Will Give You Recurring Nightmares

Chinese urban legends and mythology consist of several monsters and stories which have been haunting people for centuries.

Here are some Chinese horror legends that will make you want to curl up in your bed with the light on.

1. Single Braid Road

According to an old legend, an illegal immigrant boarded a train with her boyfriend. The girl panicked when police came on board to check people’s passports and identification. She decided to jump off the train but while doing so, her braid got stuck in the window frame. Her hair was ripped off her scalp along with the skin from her face. She got to the Single Braid Road and died there.

The legend says that only males can see her but once they approach her, they discover that she has no ears, eyes, nose or mouth.

2. Little Finger

The legend says that there was a student who often visited his university’s library. While on his way back to his dorm, he would cross a park where a young girl used to sit on a swing every day. After observing the girl for a few days, he finally decided to speak to her. However, when he told his friends about the girl, they asked him to describe her appearance. They informed him that a teacher’s daughter had died in a traffic accident and this girl sounds exactly like her.

They also told him that she had lost a finger in the accident and the boy demanded the girl to show him her hands the next time he met her. After a lot of persistence, she finally did and he saw that she was missing a finger.

After that, whenever he crossed the park, the girl was nowhere to be seen.

3. Shan Xiao

According to an old urban legend, Shan Xiao is the name of a monster who lives in the mountains. Its appearance is ghastly, with large teeth and a furry body. It can tear apart lions and tigers, and visits abandoned houses. It can disguise itself to like whatever he wants to and often traps its victims by appearing to be an attractive siren.

4. Dao Lao Gui

Dao Lao Gui is a Chinese demon who lives in the mountains. The male denom’s venom is known to instantly kill you while the venom from the female causes painful swelling and lengthens the process of death.

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5. Han Ba

Han Ba’s legend says that it is the drought monster which is believed to come from corpses which haven’t decomposed yet. Thousands of years ago, people used to have a custom of digging up old corpses to burn them so that they don’t haunt them in the form of Jiangshi which literally translates to stiff corpse.

6. Pao Xiao, a.k.a.Tao Tie

This monster has one of the most ghastly appearances in Chinese mythology. It has a human face, a goat’s body, tiger teeth and eyes near the arm pits. It preys on human beings by luring them with infant-like cries. It is advised to start running the moment you encounter one because it is impossible to escape them.

7. Lotus Pond

This urban legend dictates the story of a girl who found out that her boyfriend was cheating on her while she was waiting for him near a lotus pond. In a devastated state, the girl jumped into the pond and committed suicide.

It is said that if a couple is planning to meet near the pond, the ghost of the girl calls out to the boy and eventually pulls him in the pond with her, killing him.

It is said that if you ever hear a girl calling out to you near this pond, you’re not supposed to turn, talk or even look at her.

8. Gan Bao

Gan Bao was one of the first Chinese writers to document supernatural activities. According to an urban legend, when Gan Bao’s father passed away, a maid was buried alive along with his body in the tomb by his mother because she had suspected an affair between the two of them.

Years later when Gan Bao’s mother also passed away, they dug up the tomb to find the maid still alive but extremely weak. She claimed that Gan Bao’s ghost had been bringing her food and water for over ten years.

9. Diyu

In Chinese mythology, hell is known as Diyu. They say that when someone dies, their souls have to go through Diyu first and repent for their sins. Your time in Diyu is determined by how sinful you were during the course of your life and if you’re a good person, you are freed and reincarnated.

However, if you committed a lot of sins, your journey in Diyu is full of agony and torture.