Shanghai cemetery promotes space-saving ‘family plan’ burial plots as land runs out

A Shanghai cemetery is promoting a “family plan” so that as many as six cremations can be stored in one plot to save scarce land at the site, according to local media reports.

One family plot will take up 0.2 to 0.4 square metres, compared with 0.5 square metres normally set aside for just one cremation, the news website Thepaper.cn reported.

“Our land will run out in 10 years if we continue the current burial style,” the manager of the cemetery was quoted as saying.

The Chinese authorities require the dead to be cremated instead of traditional burial because of shortages of land, but many people still choose to bury the ashes of their family members in graves.

The cemetery will also use new materials to make biodegradable caskets, which will be more environmentally-friendly, the manager said.