Chinese government offering cash to send relatives to a watery grave

Anyone who’s had to arrange a funeral knows that burying a loved one isn't cheap.  Even in the U.S. the price is high, but in China, the cost can actually be bank-breaking.  In order to combat the land shortage that is causing this phenomenon, the Chinese government has opted to offer some incentives to help convince people that a sea burial is the better option.

The main motivator to this shift in burial practices is that land prices in China can get really, really high.  Sure, they have plenty of land in the country, but most of the population lives along the coast.  In the big coastal cities, land values are massive.  Property developers want the land for themselves, so they buy it all up, leaving little room for graveyards.  It has actually gotten to the point where the government is worried that they will have no land for graves at all, an event predicted to start hitting the bigger cities in as early as five years.

So their solution is to offer a nice bribe.  Anywhere from $160 to $1290 USD, depending on the city you live in, can be earned if you cremate your loved one and then scatter the ashes at sea.  This also includes an all-expense paid ride on a boat and the funeral rites.  All-in-all, it’s a pretty good deal if you don’t happen to be picky about the arrangements.

The irony is that cremation is already required by law.  There are so many people that the number of burials each year is huge.  In 2011 alone, there were a reported 9.6 million deaths.  But the land for even a small place to put an urn with ashes is still quite expensive, ranging as high as $16,000 USD, not to mention the yearly maintenance fees. That’s far more than your typical Chinese worker earns in a year.

Even though it’s that expensive, people are still not buying into the practice with open arms.  Despite the benefits and savings, tradition in the country is to let your departed loved ones have a small bit of space to rest in. Some are protesting the high costs of burial, saying that the government should prioritize resting places for the dead instead of letting land developers jack the prices up.

Personally, I’m all for disposing of the dead in the most efficient manner possible.  Heck, if we could recycle people into food (Soylent Green anyone?), I’d be OK with it. Then again, I've never really been the sentimental type.  What do the rest of you think?  Is this a good thing or should Chinese citizens have the right to put their loved ones somewhere on land?

South China Sea photo courtesy of Jacob.jose via Wikicommons