As Chinese on Tuesday visited cemeteries in their millions to mark Qingming – Tomb-sweeping Day – many were worrying about how long their dear-departed will remain in their final resting places.
There was outcry on internet comment sites last week when word went about that, according to a 1998 government regulation, legal ownership of a cemetery space should expire after 20 years. The ministry of civil affairs on Monday said the leases are now to run for 50 or even 70 years. But even that may not be enough in a land where respect for dead ancestors runs deep.
According to China Daily, the ministry’s regulations only lay down “the principle” of cemetery management – in practice cities and provinces have different rules, with the longest leases in Shanghai (70 years).