Chinese Tend to Graves in Qingming Festival

As I previously blogged, China is running out of land for 9 million burials per year and is advocating that people use the ocean as a final resting place. For those who still want a tomb, they must accept that it will only be for 20 or 30 years, and then the ashes will be brought to a collective memorial.

For now, “green funerals” have not caught on. This week, the Chinese are honoring their departed ones by cleaning their graves in the ancient Qingming festival.

See Calum MacLeod, China Seeks Alternatives to 9 Million Burials a Year, USA Today, Apr. 7, 2011.