China urged its citizens to find greener ways to honour their dead, on Sunday calling for a “low carbon” tomb-sweeping festival free from the vulgarity of past years, which have seen the burning of everything from paper Porsches to paper mistresses.
Filial piety and environmental consciousness are top priorities for China’s social planners, but it is tough to be dutiful and carbon-efficient at this time of year when thousands of years of tradition call for burnt offerings to the dead — hence the somewhat patchy take-up of government exhortations.
The government of China’s eastern Zhejiang province told village governments to legislate for a greener and more “civilised” festival. Flowers, poems, audio and video tributes were encouraged, while burning things of value for the netherworld — traditionally paper money but more recently paper villas, cars and luxury goods — were frowned upon, according to the state news agency Xinhua.