Professor Qiao Kuanyuan from University of Shanghai for Science and Technology says China needs to double its efforts to promote alternative burial options.

 

　　"Nearly 100,000 people pass away each year in Shanghai. We've managed to keep the area of burial plots for each deceased person to under one square meter, but the total amount is still beyond the capacity of the city. The civil affairs authorities are trying to keep the figure down, but they've not been very successful, because 80 percent of the deceased are still buried underground, with only 20 percent buried in land-saving services."

 

　　China promotes a range of eco-friendly, land-saving burials such as tree burials, lawn burials, sea burials and wall burials. Shiqiaopu Funeral Home in Chongqing, for example, provides wall burial services.

 

　　"A lot of funeral homes offer free service to families who choose to bury their loved ones in a land-saving manner. For example, each year we offer 200 wall burial services for free to low-income households. But only a few customers chose this type of burial. This year, we plan to expand the service and offer the 200 free wall burials to anyone who chooses them."

 

　　Civil Affairs Ministry official Li Bo admits that a lack of investment is a major obstacle in promoting eco-burials, but people have yet to change their beliefs about funerary customs. Most of those who don't accept land-saving burials need something to hold on to.

 

　　Cheng Guichao works in a consulting company in Beijing.

 

　　"If an elderly relative passed away, I would prefer a traditional burial. First of all, we have to honor the tradition. Plus, I've seen a lot of traditional burials since I was a child, so it is kind of stuck in my head. As for eco-burials, I guess I can accept a tree burial, but definitely not a sea burial. We must honor our ancestors both in our mind and in forms, so far I don't think we've developed an alternative form that could replace the traditional one."

 

　　It seems the Chinese are not quite ready to give up on their traditional burial customs, but as the high cost of burial plots continues to grow and the government insists on providing low cost eco-burials, more people will embrace eco-friendly burials.

 

　　For CRI, I'm Luolaiming.