Sea burials bucking tradition

Citizens in Zhejiang, a coastal province in East China, are gradually becoming more accepting of sea burials, with local governments covering most of the cost and a growing willingness to let ancient tradition pass for the sake of saving thousands of hectares of land.

A number of cities along China's coastline are planning to conduct funerals at sea during Qingming Festival, a traditional festival known as tomb-sweeping day, which falls on April 4 this year.

A staff member surnamed Li with Shaoxing Funeral Parlor in Zhejiang Province, told the Global Times that the city government recently started offering a 5,000-yuan ($805) subsidy to families of the departed, adding the city's first sea burial will be held Thursday.

The number of dead being given sea burials in the city of Jiaxing has doubled every year and the ashes of 118 people have been scattered at sea since the city launched the service in 2009, China News Service reported.

While some progress has been made and awareness is on the rise, overall few families are choosing sea burials in part because of a lack of publicity of such services, a staff member surnamed Zhu from Zhejiang's department of civil affairs told the Global Times Monday.

"Many people cannot accept sea burials as Chinese people believe the dead can only find peace when they are buried in the ground," Zhu said.

Even though government subsidies help defray the cost of most sea-burials, Zhu doesn't think money plays an important role in changing people's mind.

He believes deep-seated beliefs regarding traditional burials are the biggest barrier.

In Shanghai, which neighbors Zhejiang, sea burials have been used since 1991 and the remains of 25,689 people have been scattered at sea since then.

The city recently raised the subsidy it pays families who bury relatives at sea from 400 to 1000 yuan, Xinmin Evening News reported.

A staff member from the Shanghai Funeral Service Center told the Global Times that despite the poor condition of the ships used for funerals at sea the service cannot meet demand.

"Some people who registered last year for the service won't be able to hold a sea burial this year," she said.

"The ferries we are using are few and old, and they are unable to meet the demand and many families have given up waiting."

On Saturday the Shanghai Funeral Service Center conducted its first funeral service at sea this year, during which the remains of 126 people were scattered just off the coast.

Chinese tradition holds that to be content in the afterlife a dead person's body must be buried whole in a grave.

A campaign to reclaim land occupied by 2 million graves in Central China's Henan Province in 2012 caused anger among local citizens and netizens across the country.