Eco-friendly burials gaining popularity

Residents are favoring low-cost eco-friendly burials amid a surge in prices with a 1.5-square-meter tomb costing well above 100,000 yuan (US$16,129) in some cemeteries.

The Shanghai Funeral and Interment Service Center said yesterday that no new cemeteries were being built and space was running out. With land being gobbled up for commercial and residential development, sites for graves are even harder to come by.

This year, more than 1,000 households in Shanghai have paid for an 880 yuan burial which has cinerary urn that degrades in six months and therefore saves land compared to 100-200 when it was first launched in 2011, according to Wei Chao, director of the center's cemetery division.

Although the urns degrade, the names of the deceased are craved on stone tablets, thus allowing families to honor their loved ones.

"Local resident's attitude toward burials is changing gradually and more and more people are going in for the 'green' burials now," said Wei.

The number of people choosing sea burials has also seen an upswing, but there very few boats available for the purpose.

Wei said nearly 110,000 people die in the city annually.

The families of about 90,000 buy traditional tombs with others waiting to have the urn buried, Wei said.