This week, seven families laid the remains of their loved ones to rest in the Tianshou cemetery on the outskirts of Beijing, but these were burials with a difference. The families rode in golf carts made to look like hearses and scattered flower petals over a small plot of grass where biodegradable jars containing the ashes of their relatives were buried.
The area reserved for the green burials can fit more than 2,000 jars, buried in layers in the ground, without any especially delineated plots.
The same area would only hold about 500 to 600 traditional grave plots, according to Tianshou.
Photo: AFP
Officials have been trying to promote “eco burials” such as these as Chinese cities run out of land to bury their dead and the price of grave plots continues to soar, often surpassing the price per square meter of an apartment.
There is a common saying: “Cannot afford to die, cannot afford to be buried.”
Yesterday, cemeteries across China were filled with those paying respects to their ancestors on Tomb Sweeping Day. While the majority of families knelt at traditional graves, more Chinese are opting for cheaper, alternative burials.
Tianshou, a private cemetery that offers the eco burial service for free in conjunction with the local civil affairs bureau, said that while the vast majority of their burials are traditional graves, more people are asking about green burials.
“Public acceptance of eco burials is improving. In the beginning, people were very resistant, but after two years of promoting it, every year there are people willing to take part in it,” Tianshou director of marketing and planning Ying Sun said.
Changing customs revolving around ancestor worship has been difficult. While observance varies across the country, for many, taking care of one’s ancestors in death is a key cultural tradition and show of filial piety.
China’s rapid urbanization has meant that families who once buried their relatives in family plots near their homes no longer have the space. Speculation also plays a role as people buy grave plots ahead of time, fearing prices will be higher later, or buy up large tracts to sell later.
For that reason, cemetery plots are in high demand. In cities such as Beijing, the average price is more than 100,000 yuan (US$14,886).
Traditional grave plots in Tianshou cost between 29,800 yuan to 288,000 yuan, according to its Web site. In some cities, families have simply bought apartments to house the cremated remains of their relatives, real-estate agents say.
The government has tried to change ideas about death through directives and incentives.
In 2016, officials issued guidelines for encouraging more burials within nature, rather than delineating plots for tombs and memorials. In a revised law on funeral management in September last year, Beijing called on local governments to provide financial support for public cemeteries, which would be cheaper for residents.
Shanghai has been promoting sea burials, offering subsidies to funeral operators and families.
Others have been offering additional services to make green burials more appealing. The Anxian Yuan cemetery in Zhejiang Province provides an app families can use to scan a QR code on a tree or other fixture near where their relatives are buried.
Instead of tending to an actual grave, families can light a digital candle or leave digital flowers for the deceased.
However, not all efforts have been successful. Local officials implementing a “zero burial” policy in Jiangxi Province came under fire last year when videos surfaced showing elderly villagers weeping as authorities smashed coffins, in one case dumping a corpse out in front of a family.
“It is still very hard for a regular Chinese person to know they are not going to be buried in the land,” said Wu Keping (吳科萍), an anthropologist at Xi’an Jiaotong-Liverpool University.
Wu believes any widespread shift in burial customs may take time.
“I do think the attitudes toward burials will be changing in the new generations,” she said.
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