(ECNS) - As south China's Guangzhou City promotes green burials, the number of deceased whose ashes were scattered in the sea rose to 1,034 during Qingming Festival from April 5 to 7, a two-fold jump from the same period last year.
Guangzhou Municipal Civil Affairs Bureau said the measures aimed to save land and also promote ecological conservation.
In 1988, Guangzhou was the first in the country to launch the ceremonial scattering of ashes in the sea. By the end of 2018, it lead the country in use of this burial method, with the ashes of more than 23,800 people laid to rest.
The city also promotes other kinds of burials, including the burying of ashes under garden beds in designated areas. Local resident Chen, 70, said she buried her parents in this way at Jinzhong Cemetery.
All of Guangzhou’s ten public cemeteries offer the option of ash burial in garden beds, with nearly 30,000 people in the metropolis having been buried in this way.
In April, the city eased limitations on the scattering of ashes in the sea to allow more people to participate in this type of burial.
