Chinese zombies devour life force. George Romero’s zombies only eat brains. That’s the difference.

‘Zombie’ isn’t actually the word. The literal translation of Jiang Shi comes out as ’stiff corpse.’ But in English, the best translation reads, ‘Hopping Vampire.’ They hop, because Chinese undead suffer from rigor mortis. They are also blind, and depend on their sense of smell.

The origins of Jiang Shi might stem from the old tradition of carrying dead bodies on bamboo poles. The resulting bounce, up and down along the long road home, gave them the appearance of hopping. And as vampires, these poor folks need your life energy, your qi.

According to the movies - of which there were plenty, in 1980s Hong Kong - Chinese hopping vampires have long tongues and fingernails, and dress in Qing Dynasty clothing. They can be battled with spells (written with chicken’s blood on thin yellow paper), an eight-sided Baqua Mirror, a sword made of lucky Chinese coins powered by the light of a full moon, blood (which freezes them in place), and sticky rice. The sticky rice is lethal.