9 laid to rest at group eco-burial ceremony
More than 1,000 members of the Shanghai Cancer Recovery Club bid farewell to nine members in a group burial ceremony at Fushouyuan Cemetery in Qingpu District on Tuesday, ahead of Qingming Festival.
These departed members had chosen eco-friendly burials and were intered in a fan-shaped flowerbed with each urn taking only 0.05 square meters. The urns are biodegradable.
There is a forest in the cemetery where about 100 deceased members of the club have been buried.
In solemn music, the members sang and recalled the lives of their deceased friends. They read poems and laid flowers to pay respect to them.
These departed members had a broad mind over death and they kept struggling optimistically when they were alive, said Yuan Zhengping, director of the club.
"They chose a green burial and wished to return to nature after death," he said.
"Grave burial is a deeply rooted brief in China, but we have seen an increasing number of Chinese who have changed concept and choose land-saving burial in recent years, which will become a main stream under the background of a shortage of land in China," said Yi Hua, chief brand officer of Fushouyuan.
This year's Qingming falls on April 5, and it is the traditional time for Chinese people to pay respects to their ancestors.
A total of 6.42 million people are expected to visit the city's 44 cemeteries and 10 columbariums between March 30 and April 7, according to the Shanghai Civil Affairs Bureau.