The tragic news of Taiwanese star Luo Peiying’s passing earlier this month came as a shock to many. She had been found dead in her home on August 3, with the police ruling out foul play.

Peiying, who was known for her sassy personality, had been looking forward to celebrating her 60th birthday on August 12, and was in the process of planning a huge party to commemorate the milestone.

On August 12, a couple of Peiying’s close friends, including Taiwanese celebs Belle Yu and Makiyo, held a party at Peiying’s funeral hall, to fulfill her last wish.

They gathered at the hall with a specially customised cake, as well as mahjong tiles and poker cards.

At one point, the group, all decked out in their party best, gathered to sing the birthday song for Peiying, who was affectionately known as Luo jie or Big Sister Luo.

“Some people might think that we’re just causing a nuisance, but there are different types of funerals. It should not be just about tears and sadness. The funeral staff said that they’ve never seen something like this, but this really suits [Luo jie's] personality, and it’s our way of remembering her,” Belle said.

Makiyo, who’s Peiying’s godsister, even got up to toss a pair of jiaobei or Chinese moon blocks, in an attempt to speak with Peiying’s spirit. When she asked if Peiying was there, the blocks landed on its flat side three times, which meant “yes”.

The next few questions that Makiyo asked, which ranged from “Is the music we’re playing good?” to Are you happy that we’re celebrating with you?” all received the same positive answer from the blocks.

“We all had goosebumps, and it really felt like she was right there with us. We were very happy to play with her. When I asked her if she wanted to play cards with us, she said ‘yes’ , Makiyo said.

“Luo jie was really good at cards, whenever we played, regardless of whether she won or lost, she didn't collect any money from us. It was really fun whenever we played together. There was once when we played for 10 hours, and of the 96 rounds, almost all of them were won by Luo jie. Ivy [Makiyo’s manager] and I only won twice. It was such a huge blow for us, how could we lose so many times! Thank goodness we weren’t playing for money,” Makiyo went on to say.

Finally, of the many flower wreaths at the funeral hall, one in particularly caught the attention of the media because of the long English message attached to it. Belle later shared that the wreath was sent by one of Peiying’s ex-boyfriends.

“[He’s] Dutch, and 28 this year. When he heard the news, he was extremely sad, and said that he wanted to fly over to Taiwan immediately. However, as he has to quarantine himself for 14 days on his arrival, we advised him not to do so, and so he paid his respects through a video call,” Belle said.

Photos: PBE Media