China's fancy funerals go up in smoke

BEIJING - Chinese officials have been told to set an example through civilized and frugal funerals, in the latest anti-extravagance offensive.

"Party members and officials should set an example with simple, civilized funerals... No funeral parlors should be set up in resident communities, streets and public venues... Superstitious practices should be avoided," said a document made public Thursday.

Funerals are increasingly a platform to show off wealth and connections, with the degree of opulence and number of mourners symbolizing the "achievements" of the dead, and setting a benchmark for competition among the living.

"Except in the case of stipulations from the state, special funeral arrangement groups and mourning memorials in general, should not be held for deceased CPC members and officials," said the document.

Body farewell ceremonies should be modest and strictly controlled in scale, it added.

The document was jointly released by the general offices of the State Council, China's cabinet, and the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee.

CPC members and officials are strictly forbidden from hosting luxurious funerals or taking advantage of the occasion to collect condolence money from visitors, said the document. Wishes of the deceased for a simple ceremony should be respected and supported by their relatives, friends and former working places.

Friday's document followed a string of moves by the CPC against official decadence, including a ban of shark fin, and suggests CPC officials donate their organs after death and choose cremation or other environmentally-friendly form of disposal.

"In densely populated regions the bodies of CPC members and officials must be cremated... and their gravestones should not exceed set standards," it said, adding that funerals for those of ethnic groups may be held in accordance with tradition.

The document also went into detail on paying respects to the dead, proposing tree planting, flowers and eulogies while banning fireworks and the burning of paper money in forest areas and near tourist attractions.

Party officials were asked to spread these rules among friends and relatives and report violators.

The Chinese public has perennial complaints about overpriced funerals, and most notably, a cemetery plot. The cost of a half meter plot in Beijing or Shanghai cemeteries can easily reach tens of thousands of U.S. dollars -- several times the housing price.