Beijing will not allow the construction of any new cemeteries inside the city, according to a new planning document. In China, corpses of the deceased are traditionally cremated and then placed in underground plots. However, according to the regulation new burial sites will no longer be allowed in the capital.
Most Chinese gravesites are leased for a set amount of time. However, as part of the new regulation leases of existing plots will no longer be extended, unless otherwise stated. Families who opt not to extend the lease of a family member’s burial site will be offered monetary compensation.
The new law might mean that it will no longer be possible to bury loved ones in the city.
The document was released just ahead of the annual Qingming Festival – or Tomb-Sweeping Day – where relatives worship their deceased loved ones. The majority of Beijing’s burials occur during the festival, which falls on April 4 this year.
It is likely that these new regulations are the direct result of Beijing’s lack of space and rapidly rising prices. Due to the increasingly high prices of land, authorities are trying to convince citizens to make other arrangements than the traditional approach of cremating and burying the dead. Suggestions for more ‘green burials’ are scattering ashes at sea, in flowerbeds or under trees.
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