Shortages of gravesites in Beijing have gotten so bad that the city government this year doubled subsidies for sea burials. Families who opt to send their dearly departed into the depths of the ocean and save space on land can receive about $640.
“The demand [for cemetery space] is relatively stable, but prices keep on going up,†said Guo Yu, a 25-year-old sales representative at Wanfo Huaqiao cemetery in suburban Beijing, one of the city’s most prestigious. Guo said while the government restricts grave plots to 32 square feet, the cemetery has boosted its revenue by building graves with thicker, higher-quality stones. “They look grander that way,†she said.
Local governments, which control most graveyards in China, earn significant sums from selling plots or allocating land to cemetery developers, making the business ripe for corruption. According to the respected publication Southern Weekend, the Civil Affairs Bureau of Guangdong province earned 90% of its income from funerary-related income last year.
But China is quickly running out of space for graves. In 2013, the Ministry of Civil Affairs said the country would be out of burial spaces by 2019.
The Changping District Civil Affairs Bureau has been investigating the Chinese Dragon Court case and has put up a sign in front of the facility, deeming it an “illegal cemetery,†according to local media reports. The graveyard’s listed phone number appears to be out of service.
Linkback:
https://tubagbohol.mikeligalig.com/index.php?topic=80611.0