Dongzhi traffic pressure eases
People use flowers as replacement of paper money in response to smoke-free call of cemeteries at Fushouyuan Cemetery.
More than 1 million visits were paid to city cemeteries over the weekend as people showed their respects to their departed ancestors during dongzhi, the winter solstice, bringing traffic congestion to some areas.
Although the traffic put pressure on the city's streets, the flow was less than last year, partly due to the poor weather and continuous appeals for residents to go on other days or use public transportation, the Shanghai Civil Affairs Bureau said.
On Sunday, dongzhi itself, the city's 54 cemeteries and columbariums received 870,000 tomb sweepers, an decrease of 12.7 percent, and putting an extra 130,000 vehicles onto the streets, a drop of 0.5 percent, according to the bureau.
Expressways and main roads leading to cemeteries were heavily congested on Sunday morning. Shuttle buses between metro stations and cemeteries eased some of the traffic pressure.
A total of 1.9 million visits were paid to cemeteries in the city since December 14, a drop of 5.3 percent from the same period last year.
More than 21,000 urns were interred during the period, up 4 percent, according to the bureau.
Cemeteries in the city are hosting events such as group funerals avoiding peak days.
Bans of the traditional burning of paper money and ingots at some city cemeteries are gaining support from residents. Cemetery workers are persuading tomb sweepers not to burn paper money, and are promoting use of electronic candles and flowers instead.
"In the past, many people brought huge boxes full of funeral money to the cemetery, but now more are bring only a small bag," said Wang Xiaoyuan, an employee of Fushouyuan.
People pay tribute to deceased organ donors at the Fushouyuan Cemetery on Sunday.
