More Chinese Choose Cremation After DeathOwing to the government's efforts on funeral reform, the percentage of Chinese who choose crematorium as the last place to go after death has risen to 46 percent, from 14.5 percent in 1982.According to the Ministry of Civil Affairs, between 1989 and 1999, 28.21 million bodies were cremated in the country, but in 2000 alone, 3.73 million bodies were burned into ashes in crematorias across the country. By 200l, China has 1,363 crematorias, approximately one crematorium for every million Chinese, while the number of crematoria stood at 1,183 in 1980. Almost 100 percent of the dead in large cities and developed areas are cremated, instead of the traditional way of underground burial. Since 1997, when the State Council published "Provisions on the Administration of Burials," more and more Chinese are willing to be cremated after they breathe their last breath. In recent years, many people have chosen some innovative ways to be buried such as spreading the ashes into the sea or planting a tree above the urn. |
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