I returned to my second hometown Nanjing of neighbouring Jiangsu Province on New Year's Eve to spend the New Year holiday with my relatives and old friends. It was the first time I have visited the city for the holiday since I moved to Shanghai a few years ago.

We decided to relive our old experience of tolling bells at midnight in a Buddhist temple to see the old year out and welcome the new as we used to do on the occasion. We selected Pilu Temple for the mission this year, partly because this temple was easily accessible but, more importantly, because its door was wide open, welcoming even ordinary folk to strike the bell to celebrate the coming of the new year and make a wish, free of charge.

The experience itself was indeed an exhilarating one. But what made the event all the more jubilant was the fact that everyone, rich or poor, could equally share the experience, striking away to their heart's content, making the moment one of both religious solemnity and joyous activity - for all.

For some time previously, hundreds of people had contacted the temple, trying to offer huge sums of money to buy the exclusive right to be the first to strike the bell at the arrival of the New Year. But these requests had been decisively rejected by the head monk, who declared that the sound of the bell was for everybody, and not for sale. He added that all local residents were welcome to the temple to toll the bell together with the monks to usher in the auspicious New Year.

To keep the carnival in good order, the temple gave out free bell-tolling tickets. Those who wished to join in the gala night could queue up to enter the main hall to ring the bell and pray for a happy and prosperous new year. Some survivors of the Nanjing Massacre and veteran Red Army men were also invited to ring the bell to express their best wishes for world peace.

In ancient times, religious followers would gather at a local temple on New Year's Eve where they waited for the bell to toll 108 times because, according to Buddhism, man has 108 sins and by hearing the bells toll that number of times he can be relieved of all of them. It was also believed that the bell tolling would help drive away worries and trepidation, increase one's intelligence, and bring safety, happiness and a good harvest in the coming year.

With the lapse of time, this tradition has gradually lost its religious flavour and become a popular activity accompanying New Year celebrations. With more and more people taking part, the number of tolls is no longer limited to 108 and the tolling is usually extended into the small hours, even lasting until dawn. Although our life style has been Westernized in many ways, New Year's Day is still a time when we hold to this age-old tradition. To get lost for a little while amidst this auspicious and congenial environment on New Year's Eve is indeed an ideal way to start life afresh in the coming year.

Ever since 1997 when the famous Hanshan Temple in Suzhou, another city of Jiangsu Province, became the first to auction off its New Year bell chimes, an increasing number of temples nationwide have followed suit, including, to my regret, some world-renowned temples in Nanjing. All such deals were made under high-sounding excuses such as raising funds for temples or lightening the burden on local governments or something else. But those arguments were all highly questionable.

To put it bluntly, it is the worship of money that was behind the transactions. Nowadays it seems everything can be put up for sale, even the holy sound of a sacred place. So who would have bought, or sought to buy, the bell sound? Obviously rich businesses or urbanites.

The toll of the New Year's bell signifies the end of the old year and the beginning of the new. It carries a blessing and good wishes for a Happy New Year to ordinary people. So the resonant sound is dubbed an auspicious sound. Whether the sound rings within the number 108 or beyond it makes no difference. If a minority of rich people can buy themselves a sound that is emblematic of benediction from Heaven, then it becomes a privilege, detached from its original role and unique occasion. The sound, however loud it may be, no longer has anything to do with common folks. Instead it only prays for those who have the money to monopolize the bell-tolling.

In refusing to sell out its New Year bell-tolling right, the Pilu Temple not only granted common folks the right to toll the bell for themselves and listen to the old year rung out by the chimes, but also placed the "princes" and the "paupers" on an equal footing in the ceremony. The head monk in charge of the temple certainly merits admiration and respect when, facing an offer of 360,000 yuan (US$43,370) from one Singaporean for the right to toll the bell first, he said: "There is no way a beautiful bell sound can be traded for riches. Nor can a blessing be bought with money."