The A to Z of Ching Ming

A is for Anita Mui

This city’s own versatile answer to Madonna was a professional singer since the age of seven. During a life cut down too soon due to cervical cancer (Oct 10, 1963-Dec 30, 2003), Mui released over 40 albums and starred in several films. The whereabouts of her ashes have never been confirmed, yet she’s worshipped at Shang Sin Chun Tong Temple in Kowloon Tong.

B is for Biodiversity

The Hong Kong Cemetery in Happy Valley isn’t just full of old headstones. “There are fruit bats and two rare species of moss. It’s a wonderful habitat for all sorts of flora and fauna,” says architect Ken Nicholson. When the Botanical Gardens was in charge of cemeteries, it literally planted millions of trees across the city and experimented with different species in graveyards. The result is at least one cemetery is, ironically, full of life. Even the living can momentarily rest in peace here in the oldest cemetery in the city, established in the early 1840s.

C is for Costs

According to a legend among the city’s undertaker set, one of the most expensive coffins ever cost $180,000 and came with its own built-in sauna. That last part’s not strictly true, but when it comes to the final spread, some people really do lay it on. Longtime funeral planners at the Hong Kong Funeral Home claim the average service costs $13,500 but can go up to $50,000 for a huge sendoff. Those looking for a hot deal should check with the FEHD. They’ll set up bargain hunters with a ready-to-go coffin burial for $3,190 (slightly less for the kiddies).

D is for Digging

It’s generally acknowledged that coffins must be placed six feet under. Local historian Timothy Ko learned that in 1865, one local ordinance stated that “a grave of less than five feet in depth from the ordinary surface of the ground to the uppermost side of the corpse or coffin therein deposed, shall for every such offense forfeit and pay a sum not exceeding $50, nor less than $5.”

E is for Eurasian Cemetery

Around 1899, a piece of land was dedicated exclusively to Eurasians at the Mount Davis Cemetery, says Joseph Ting, chief curator of the Hong Kong Museum of History. It was called Hotung Cemetery before the Second World War. Many other cemeteries, though often containing what Ken Nicholson calls “a microcosm of Hong Kong,” were often created for specific races or religions.

F is for Fashion

For his 2002 funeral in North Point, Roman Tam, the “Godfather of Cantopop,” was dressed in an ultra-rare embroidered golden dragon lined with fur, along with an Armani shirt, YSL pants and black Prada leather shoes.

G is for Gallant Garden

Among the departed masses (190,000-strong) that fill the Wo Hop Shek Cemetery in Fanling lies one small, special area dedicated for civil servants who've met the Grim Reaper while on duty. It’s called Gallant Garden, created in 1996. Forty-one people are buried.

H is for Hell Notes

These are paper bank notes in ridiculously large denominations, burned by the deceased’s relatives. In this way they are sent into the afterlife to be spent by the dead – call it spiritual pocket money. Never give any living person hell notes; it implies you’re wishing death upon them. If banknotes seem too passé, hell credit cards are available instead.

I is for Inflation, or Investing in Burial Plots

Morbid folklore and hearsay has it that some local residents buy and sell burial plots in the same way they sell a flat. Then a few years later, they are sold and new ones are acquired. One word of advice: Leave this risky business to the professionals, whoever they may be.

J is for Jewish Cemetery

On 13 Shan Kwong Road in Happy Valley, just behind the Po Kok Primary school, lies the city’s only Jewish cemetery, established in 1855. With the Hong Kong Jockey Club in the distance and surrounded by high-rise apartment buildings, visitors here can view part of the city’s history through its deceased Russian, Romanian and Iraqi merchants, as well as families like the Kadoories that helped build this city.

K is for Kowloon

According to historian Ko, the Chinese Christian Cemetery is the oldest surviving cemetery on the Kowloon Peninsula, dating back to 1904. It was renamed the New Kowloon Cemetery in 1925 and extended in 1947.

L is for Limbo

The most neutral place in the universe, recently revoked as a concept by the Catholic Church. Now unbaptized babies go directly to heaven.

M is for Mourner, Professional

Don’t have enough friends? Want to make a good final impression? Then hire a professional mourner. An old tradition slowly slipping away, these professionals will come to any service – at a price, that is – and wail away, to the point that they’ll even wake the...Well, not quite. It’s the ultimate way to let people know how much they’re going to miss you, even if they don’t know it yet.

N is for Naughty Bits

Imperial Chinese eunuchs kept their castrated testicles in jars so they could be buried complete.

O is for Overcrowding

It’s a serious problem. Approximately 30,000 people die each year in Hong Kong. After seven to 10 years, remains are exhumed and graves are reused for someone else. Public niches displaying urns after cremation are at an absolute premium: The city is due to run out in 2007.

P is for Pets

Q is for Queen and Country

According to Ko, an 1845 issue of the Illustrated London News ran the following: “[Hong Kong’s] diseases are endemic fever, diarrhea and dysentery... General D’Aguilar has declared that to retain Hong Kong will require the loss of a whole regiment every three years.” Burial grounds were created at an alarming rate. Now you see why we’re so obsessed with health scares. Just remember, mosquitoes breed in stagnant water.

R is for Reincarnation

Author Dan Waters claims the Chinese were loath to be buried in fur, leather or rubber, because this increased the chances of reincarnation as an animal. Feet are often tied together to prevent jumping if tormented by ghosts, and bronze coins with a quarter-inch square hole in the center are often placed in the mouth to deter future evil.

S is for St. James Settlement

Social services charity St. James Settlement started the city's first funeral support service a couple years ago. So far, 300 people have signed up to make arrangements for their own services or burials. During a free tour last month, 26 senior citizens visited Sheung Wan's Man Mo Temple, several coffin stores, a mortuary in Kowloon, the Kwai Chung Crematorium, the Po Fook Hill columbarium hall in Sha Tin and the Chai Wan cemetery.

T is for Tradition

We’re full of customs and traditions. For example, in certain circles it’s considered a greater offence not to attend a person’s funeral than not to attend their wedding. Those whose birthdays fall during the same month the funeral is held should not attend. It’s considered bad luck to return to a funeral home (for whatever reason) on the same day as a funeral. Nor should one go straight home after the ceremony, in order to leave the bad luck elsewhere.

U is for Urn

As late as 1958, cremations accounted for just over one percent of burials. Now, only one in 10 people are buried. The rest are cremated and largely stored in the walls of vaults known as columbaria. Some are seriously suggesting going the high-rise route, to much opposition.

V is for Vigil

Leslie Cheung was one of the city’s consummate performers, whether it was on stage or screen. But his untimely demise in 2003 at the age of 46 certainly hasn’t stopped those who want to celebrate his life: Every year on April 1st, the Leslie Legacy Association commemorates him with a candlelight vigil. Over 1,000 people turn up from all over the world. “Someone like him comes along only once in a lifetime,” says Ms. Cheung, one prominent member.

W is for War Graves

X Marks the Spot

No matter which sacred spot you visit in this city, you’re bound to find the famous and the influential. With an estimated 39 cemeteries, 11 of them public, history can be found on any number of headstones. There are members of the Hotung and Chater families in the Hong Kong Cemetery, famed 50s superstar Linda Lin Dai in St. Michael’s (in Happy Valley), as well as distinguished merchants Hormusjee Naorojee Mody and J.H. Ruttonjee in the Parsi Cemetery (also in Happy Valley). They’re just waiting to be rediscovered.

Y is for Yin and Yang

According to tradition, bones are Yang. Flesh is Yin. Hell is dark and yin. Heaven is bright and yang. Meanwhile, a yinyang is a really good cha chan teng drink.

Z is for Zzzzzzzzzzzz

Chuang Tzu, the revered Taoist philosopher (400 B.C.) put it best:
“We are born as from a quiet sleep,
We die to a calm awakening.”

Then again, an old Chinese saying goes:
“Be born in Soochow; Live in Hangchow;
Eat in Kwangchow; Die in Liuchow.”

The explanation behind it is that it’s beautiful in Soochow, the women are the best-looking in Hangchow, the noodles taste best in Kwangchow and the wood is the best quality in Luchow. Forgive us, we’re still stuck on living.