2017年CRI Cemetery shortage in Shanghai

 

Monday is the second day of China's three-day Tomb-Sweeping¹ Day Holiday when people across the country pay tribute to their deceased loved ones.

But as CRI's Ding Heng reports, in China's major first-tier city, Shanghai, citizens are finding it more and more difficult to get their deceased family members buried.

Data from the Shanghai authorities show that by the end of last year, more than 30 percent of the city's population were above the age of 60 - defined as senior citizens by the United Nations.

Each year, around 120-thousand senior citizens in the city pass away.

It is estimated the ratio of seniors will continue to hike until around 2040.

By then, the families of those who pass away are likely to faced with a dilemma².

Zhang Songjie is a researcher with the Shanghai Funeral Management Service Center, a government-affiliated institution.

"Shanghai has 44 commercial cemeteries³, with more than 130 hectares of available land. Each year, around 6.6 hectares are being consumed. So, judging from the current pace, available land will be used up in 20 years from now."

Limited land resources, together with soaring prices, have pushed many Shanghai citizens to buy tombs in nearby areas, notably⁴ Suzhou, a second-tier city less than 100 kilometers away.

Ahead of the Tomb-Sweeping Day Holiday, however, Suzhou became the first city in China to ban people who don't have local household registration⁵ documents from purchasing local land for burial.

The new policy is seen by many as a way to prevent Shanghai citizens from buying up local land, which is also limited.

The authorities and cemeteries in Shanghai are currently working together to provide alternative burial options in order to save land.

Fushouyuan, which went public on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange in 2013, is one such cemetery⁶ operator.

Yi Hua, manager of Fushouyuan, explains one of its newly-developed programs, something she calls "ecological⁷ burials".

"So here is a 200-square meter garden. It is different from traditional tomb structure. Bone ashes can be kept inside the small units in the garden, or buried under the lawn. According to the past standards, such an area could only hold 30 tombs. Now, it has a capacity for 200."

Meanwhile, the cemetery is also promoting the idea of "indoor burial", namely placing people's ashes inside one room.

Yi Hua says such a burial model means that when people pay tribute to the dead, they need to do work that is more akin⁸ to house-cleaning, instead of tomb sweeping.

Many of these alternatives, which are sometimes contrary to China's traditions, are still hard for people to accepted even in a city as open as Shanghai.

Yongfuyuan, another cemetery in the city, says only 22 people have subscribed⁹ to its land-saving burial program since it was launched four years ago.

But as land resources become scarcer, perhaps people will need to think again.

1 sweeping   

adj.范围广大的，一扫无遗的

参考例句：

• The citizens voted for sweeping reforms.公民投票支持全面的改革。
• Can you hear the wind sweeping through the branches?你能听到风掠过树枝的声音吗？

2 dilemma   

n.困境，进退两难的局面

参考例句：

• I am on the horns of a dilemma about the matter.这件事使我进退两难。
• He was thrown into a dilemma.他陷入困境。

3 cemeteries   

n.（非教堂的）墓地，公墓( cemetery的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• It's morbid to dwell on cemeteries and such like. 不厌其烦地谈论墓地以及诸如此类的事是一种病态。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• In other districts the proximity of cemeteries seemed to aggravate the disease. 在其它地区里，邻近墓地的地方，时疫大概都要严重些。 来自辞典例句

4 notably   

adv.值得注意地，显著地，尤其地，特别地

参考例句：

• Many students were absent,notably the monitor.许多学生缺席，特别是连班长也没来。
• A notably short,silver-haired man,he plays basketball with his staff several times a week.他个子明显较为矮小，一头银发，每周都会和他的员工一起打几次篮球。

5 registration   

n.登记，注册，挂号

参考例句：

• Marriage without registration is not recognized by law.法律不承认未登记的婚姻。
• What's your registration number?你挂的是几号？

6 cemetery   

n.坟墓，墓地，坟场

参考例句：

• He was buried in the cemetery.他被葬在公墓。
• His remains were interred in the cemetery.他的遗体葬在墓地。

7 ecological   

adj.生态的，生态学的

参考例句：

• The region has been declared an ecological disaster zone.这个地区已经宣布为生态灾难区。
• Each animal has its ecological niche.每种动物都有自己的生态位.

8 akin   

adj.同族的，类似的

参考例句：

• She painted flowers and birds pictures akin to those of earlier feminine painters.她画一些同早期女画家类似的花鸟画。
• Listening to his life story is akin to reading a good adventure novel.听他的人生故事犹如阅读一本精彩的冒险小说。

9 subscribed   

v.捐助( subscribe的过去式和过去分词 )；签署，题词；订阅；同意

参考例句：

• It is not a theory that is commonly subscribed to. 一般人并不赞成这个理论。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• I subscribed my name to the document. 我在文件上签了字。 来自《简明英汉词典》