Chinese people have become more aware of environmental problems in the last few years such as floods, sandstorms across North China and landslides. Gao said public campaigns have helped change the desire to bury people, which Chinese people believed was the best way to bless the dead. China is also confronting an aging population which causes extra problems. In Beijing for example, there is expected to be 10,000 more cremations each year over the next 10 years, which will put a big pressure on cemeteries as the amount of land to be used for funerals is being hotly debated. If we continue with burials, there will be a big clash between using land for the living or the dead.
Chinese people are now more aware of the problems associated with burials.
Cremations now account for 46 per cent of funerals and a majority of large and medium-sized cities have stopped burials altogether, official statistics indicate. Calls for reform have even attracted attention from China's top legislature, the National People's Congress. A growing number of suggestions filed by legislators talk about changing funeral practices to take account of environmental protection. Environmental-friendly burial practices such as sea burials have become popular in China. All rights reserved.