Boatloads of relatives carrying biodegradable urns are saying their farewells over water instead of trying to buy expensive and scarce funeral plots
iao Hu never expected to make a living from the dead. For years she worked in her family business offering boat tours to tourists visiting Zhoushan, an archipelago off the east coast of China’s mainland. But in recent years her proximity to the sea, and to the temple-dotted hills of Mount Putou – one of Chinese Buddhism’s four sacred mountains – started to attract a different type of clientele.
In March 2022, Xiao Hu left her family business to start her own company, riding the rising tide of interest in sea burials. She normally goes out to sea two or three times a week, but in busy periods she runs up to 30 services a month. After Jiang Zemin, China’s former president, chose to have his ashes scattered into the mouth of the Yangtze river in December, enquiries to Xiao Hu’s company more than tripled, she says.Most Chinese people are not Buddhists.