Cost and Quality
The price of joss sticks can range from a few dollars to hundreds of dollars, depending on where the joss sticks were made. Low-quality joss sticks are cheap and can be found anywhere from a gods material shop to a supermarket, and many of the cheap joss sticks are made mechanically with high proportion of fillers such as clay and use perfumes or fragrance oil for smell instead of using organic materials. Some may be harmful to the lungs, produce bad smells, and cause quick blackening on walls when burnt.
High-quality joss sticks from mainland China or Taiwan use natural resins, spices, woods, and herbs. Higher-quality incense also use less added fragrant oils to enhance the smell and instead rely the quality of the main ingredients in the incense mix to be fragrant. The burn time, the stability of the burn, as well as the lack of heat in the falling ashes are all signs of quality in the joss sticks.
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Chinese girls praying with joss sticks inside a temple.
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Joss Sticks burned before three Chinese gods (Guan Yu, Guan Yin, and Thousand Hand Guan Yin) in a shrine.
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Another picture of hanging spiral joss sticks.
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