A temple procession carries its deity through the neighbourhood, neighbours step out to watch, and on festival nights lanterns lift into the sky. Ritual is woven into ordinary life, so an offering at a doorway and a late wander through a night market can share the same evening.

The climate is humid subtropical in the north and tropical in the south, with hot, damp summers, mild winters and cooler mountain air. Autumn usually brings the clearest days, while late summer can bring typhoons. A Local Friend opens doors you would never have gone up to knock on, from a temple courtyard to a neighbour's festival table.