Beijingers seek final resting places in Hebei

In late March, the Beijing Municipal Civil Affairs Bureau (BMCAB) issued a funeral industry development plan for 2016-20, which said that the city will no longer build new tombs and that existing tombs with expired rental leases cannot be rented again, the Beijing Times reported on March 27.

据《京华时报》在3月27日的报道，三月末，北京市民政局发布了2016-2020年度的北京市殡葬业发展规划，该规划指出北京将禁止新建墓穴，且原有墓穴到期后将不得续约。

An anonymous official with the BMCAB told The Beijing News that Beijing will run out of tombs by 2050. Several Beijing cemeteries contacted by the Global Times on Monday said that they already have no burial sites available for sale.

据一位不愿透露姓名的民政局官员向《新京报》指出，北京的墓穴将在2050年告罄。周一的时候，《环球时报》联系采访了几家北京公墓，被告知他们已经没有墓地可供出售了。

In recent years, many cemeteries in Beijing have run out of tombs to sell, while those that remain are sold for tens or hundreds of thousands of yuan, the Beijing News reported on Monday.

据《新京报》在周一的报道，近年来，北京许多公墓的墓穴已经销售一空了，而那些尚未出售的墓穴售价往往高达几万或几十万元。

Meanwhile, tombs in towns in Hebei Province such as Zhuozhou, Huailai and Sanhe have sold well, targeting Beijing purchasers with prices that average under 10,000 yuan ($1,544) for a 1-square-meter tomb.

与此同时，在河北省的涿州、怀来、三河等城市，墓穴的销售情况也非常火爆。他们把商机对准了北京的顾客，以平均低于10000万（约合1544美元）的价格出售给他们面积约1平米的墓穴。

A female employee of Zhonghua Perpetuity Cemetery in Hebei’s Huailai county, about 120 kilometers from Beijing, told a Global Times reporter posing as a client that about 90 percent of their clients are from Beijing.

在距北京120公里远的河北省怀来县，当《环球时报》记者冒充客户采访当地一家名为“中华永久墓园”的墓地时，那儿的一位女性员工告诉记者，它们90%的客户来自于北京。

Lingshan Tower Cemetery in Hebei’s Sanhe also claimed that 80 percent of their 2,100 tombs were sold to Beijingers last year, The Beijing News reported on March 4.

据《新京报》在3月4日的报道，三河县的“灵山塔墓园”也向记者宣称在他们去年售出的2100座墓穴中，有80%的墓穴被北京客户买走了。

A male employee of Futian Cemetery in Shijingshan district in the capital’s west said that all 70 tombs set to be made available this year were sold in 2015, and clients can now only book tombs for 2017.

北京西边石景山附近有一处“福田”公墓，据他们一位男性员工透露，今年可供下葬的70个墓穴早在2015年就售出了，而现在新来的客户只能够预定2017年的墓穴了。

"Due to the limited amount of land, the number of tombs we offer has declined in recent years," the employee said, adding that the cemetery may only offer 50 tombs for 2017, at the price of 200,000 yuan for each 1-square-meter tomb.

他说道：“因为近年来政府限制墓地用地，我们可以提供给客户的墓穴也大大减少了。”他还说道，到2017年的时候，他们也许只能提供50个可供下葬的墓穴，而每块一平米墓穴的售价将高达20万元。

Many cemeteries in Hebei Province now offer special services for clients from Beijing, including free shuttle buses, as the limited land resources in the capital have helped increase the popularity of burial sites in Hebei. Some cemeteries have even set up offices in the Guomao area of downtown Beijing to offer consultations.

由于北京对土地资源使用采取限制措施，使得河北的墓穴大受欢迎。现在河北的许多墓地都提供特殊服务来招揽北京顾客，例如提供免费的汽车接送服务。有些墓地甚至还在北京最繁华的国贸地区设立办事处，以向顾客提供丧葬咨询。

Beijing residents have been complaining about overpriced cemeteries for years, saying that they cannot afford to die, as tombs are several times more costly than the city’s housing.

北京墓穴的售价是房价的好几倍。多年来，许多北京人都在抱怨墓地收费太高，以至于他们“死都死不起”。

Urban residents in the city spend an average of 80,000 yuan on funerals, according to a report released by an institution under the Ministry of Civil Affairs in 2015.

据民政部一个下属机构在2015年的报告，北京市城市居民在葬礼上平均花费达到了8万元。

The Beijing government plans to ensure that at least half of its deceased citizens have eco-friendly burials by 2020, the Xinhua News Agency reported.

据《新华社》报道，北京市政府计划到2020的时候，至少一半逝者能有一个环保的葬礼。

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来源:Global Times爱语吧作者:陶祥飞