Costs of burial plots on the rise in Beijing

Updated: 2012-04-06 07:26

By Wang Xiaodong (China Daily)

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"It is no wonder at all that the prices of cemetery plots are so high in Beijing," said Bao. "Other commodities such as housing are also expensive in Beijing, due to limited resources and high demand."

Beijing Times quoted Jiang Xiaogang, vice-president of the Beijing Funeral Association, as saying that it is untrue Beijing residents cannot afford to die in the capital.

"It is true most people cannot afford a luxurious funeral in Beijing, but there are some cheap services provided by the government," he was quoted as saying.

Jiang said the Beijing municipal government provides inexpensive funeral services, including cheap ash boxes and free sea burial, but they have not been popular with residents.

Sales of cemetery plots is only a small part of the whole highly profitable chain in the funeral industry - including makeup and funeral paraphernalia such as urns and wreaths - that starts the moment a person is declared dead, Bao said.

"A lack of laws and regulations in the funeral industry is the main reason why it keeps reaping heavy profits," said Bao.

According to reports, a standard wooden urn for holding ashes, which costs less than 100 yuan, can be sold for thousands by funeral homes.

"Systemic problems also lead to unfair high prices," Bao said. "Funeral houses are managed by the government in China and are not supposed to gain profit. However, in reality they receive little State funding, which forces them to raise prices to cover their costs.

"People should also change their mindset and get rid of vanity when having a funeral," said Bao. "There are other means of burial, like sea burial, and burying the urn under a tree. It's not necessary to only seek a large grave."

Many people, however, find it hard to do so.

"I think it is right to advocate other ways of burial as land has become more scarce. But for me I can't accept a sea burial for my relatives," said a Beijing resident named Dong. "After all, Chinese people traditionally believe a deceased person cannot get peace until he is buried underground."

The key to check the disorderly development of the funeral industry, including excessively high graveyard prices, is to establish laws to regulate the industry, Bao said, though admitting there is not a great possibility of establishing such a law in the near future.

"Some experts are still expressing doubts about the necessity of using cremation as the basic way of body disposal, arguing Chinese people traditionally bury the deceased," he said.

"This is the reason why a national law on funeral management has not come into being yet."

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