Chongqing - April 6, the final day of the Qingming Festival holiday, saw Chongqing’s funeral service institutions host 196,500 visitors for on-site tributes, with 117,400 choosing green, low-carbon ways to honor the deceased, according to the Chongqing Municipal Civil Affairs Bureau.
It is a long-standing Chinese custom to pay respects to ancestors during the Qingming Festival. Traditional mourning rituals typically involve visiting gravesites to burn joss paper or set off firecrackers.
In recent years, Chinese authorities have begun advocating for green, low-carbon tributes, encouraging modern alternatives such as offering flowers, online commemorations, tree planting, and family memorial services. These methods effectively reduce air pollution, lower fire risks, and conserve resources, representing a modern shift toward environmental sustainability.
The Chongqing Shiqiaopu Funeral Home reported that the burning of joss paper and the use of fireworks are strictly prohibited within its facilities and cemeteries. Instead, the venue provides eco-friendly alternatives such as fresh flowers and electronic incense. The facility is also coordinating with public security, transportation, and city management departments to increase patrols and ensure that tributes are conducted safely and in an orderly manner.
Furthermore, the Chongqing Municipal Civil Affairs Bureau and the Municipal Finance Bureau recently co-issued the Implementation Measures for People-Benefit Basic Funeral Services, announcing that a new set of subsidy policies will officially take effect on May 1 this year.
The new policy increases incentives for ecological burials, offering a 1,500 yuan (approx. 218.74 U.S. dollars) subsidy for vertical ash storage in columbaria and a one-time 3,000 yuan subsidy for land-saving ecological methods such as tree burials, flower bed burials, lawn burials, sea burials, ash scattering, or deep burial without occupying land.
These subsidies are available to residents with local household registration and to non-residents who have donated organs or corneas within the city. This policy aims to guide the public in shifting their perspectives on funerals and practicing ecological conservation.
According to statistics from the Ministry of Civil Affairs, a total of 62.734 million people visited funeral service institutions across China during the three-day Qingming Festival holiday. Among them, 39.886 million opted for green and low-carbon tributes such as offering flowers, accounting for 63.58% of the total on-site visitors.
Funeral service institutions nationwide recorded a total of 41,677 burials during this period, with 2,184 choosing ecological methods such as sea, tree, or lawn burials, 8,827 opting for columbarium storage, and 23,102 selecting land-saving gravesites, meaning land-saving and ecological burials accounted for 81.8% of the total and reflecting growing public acceptance of sustainable funeral practices.