Covid in China: virtual funeral homes for Qingming, Chinese All Saints Day
A cemetery worker in protective gear makes an offering of flowers at a grave in Babaoshan Cemetery in Beijing (Illustrative image).
© AP - Peng Ziyang
Text by: RFI Follow
1 min
Like every April 5th, it is Qingming Day in China.
The Chinese go to the cemetery to clean and decorate the graves of their deceased relatives.
A ritual that since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic can also be done on the internet, via platforms specialized in the virtual cleaning of the graves of ancestors.
Advertising
Read more
From our correspondent in Beijing
,
Stéphane Lagarde
A mountain landscape, waterfall, green waters and traditional music.
These online “mourning halls” for
Qingming
, literally the day of “
clarity
” and “
light
” in Mandarin, have mushroomed in China in recent years.
Two years after the appearance of Covid-19, Chinese people will still not be able to go to the cemetery on Tuesday.
There is no other choice for Allie Ma, 25, who works in the music industry in Changsa in the central province of Hunan and cannot return to her home province of Shanxi in the northeast of the country. .
“
Because of the epidemic situation, I cannot travel
, she notes.
If I go back to my parents, I will be in quarantine, then quarantine again when I get back.
So I chose a site that allows for grave cleaning, flower laying, and even eternity lanterns.
I spent about 100 yuan for this virtual ceremony.
»
One hundred yuan, about 15 euros to perpetuate the tradition via the internet.
An option that will be able to help out the inhabitants of confined megacities,
Shanghai
, Jilin, or even in Shenzhen, where cemeteries remain closed due to the resurgence of Covid-19.
To prevent some from taking advantage of the situation, the Ministry of Civil Affairs has asked local governments to strengthen their controls on the platforms offering these rituals online for an increasingly virtual Chinese All Saints Day.
Newsletter
Receive all the international news directly in your mailbox
I subscribe
Follow all the international news by downloading the RFI application
google-play-badge_FR
China
Coronavirus