I'm agnostic, but after bouts of bad luck I've been recommended by friends to 'lure the Taisui' which would help change my fortune for the year.
The Taisui, according to Chinese astrology, is the 'higher being' that is in power at a particular year. At any given year there would be people under certain horoscope signs that would not 'jive' with the Taisui, and this is where bad luck happens. 'Luring the Taisui' essentially means getting on the Higher being's good side so thing will run smooth for the year.
And this temple is perfect for this job. Its so perfect that it's essentially an assembly line of changing your fortune (for now)
The main temple area is above ground, so upon picking an auspicious date, you need to go up a flight of stairs to get there. There would be some shabbily dressed old ladies trying to sell you Fung Shui trinkets but just wave them away with a smile and walk on. (You are of course welcome to indulge if you are into that sort of thing)
When you enter the top floor of the temple an old man would bluntly ask what you want. You tell him your intention and he ask for your name, your Chinese horoscope and your date of birth. He would then scribble on to a red sheet of paper, collect your money (for buying incense and other worshipping items), pass you the bundle of incense and papers you just bought, and hand the red sheet of paper to another guy.
The other guy stands in front of a group of small statues which I think are the Taisuis. He would then light your incense as you bow to the Taisuis your stack of paper, and start his chant which essentially pleads the Taisui to watch over you during this difficult year. After the ceremony you would give him a laisee (for the trouble) and he would give you a small piece of yellow paper folded into a triangle, and tell you to bring that with you anywhere for the year as an amulet.
You should then be blessed for the year, and if anything unfortunate should happen that year you should be thankful that the incident has already been minimized by Taisui (it could've been worse), or if you were to lose the yellow paper amulet, it just means that it had 'gone away' to 'block' something catastrophic for you.
Before the lunar year ends, you need to repeat this whole process to thank the Taisui for blessing you throughout this year. If you still had the amulet, you are to give it back to the temple who would burn it for you.
So there you go- Chinese superstition 101 in a nutshell. read more