Qingming Festival: A fashionable send-off for Shanghai’s dead
It's more than just a long weekend. Qingming Festival sends millions of residents shopping for the perfect way to honor their ancestors.
Although it used to be a simple task of bringing joss paper (aka ghost money) to the cemetery to burn to honor the dead, modern times mean modern ghosts with slightly more particular tastes. Loved ones are now buying everything from cars to gold accessories.
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We visit a number of Shanghai's Tomb Sweeping Day gift stores to find out what are this year's big ticket items.
1. Villa with a garden
Price: RMB 15-178
For many in Shanghai, owning a home is more important than having a roof over your head, it’s a matter of dignity, and this is true in life as in death.
As many believe that people continue their lives after death, having a home is a basic necessity, and thankfully a paper one is more affordable than the actual Shanghai real estate market.
One popular Taobao store offers everything from a simple 20-centimeter paper bedroom to a complete 30-centimeter-high apartment. Effigy residences are clearly advancing with the times.
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Liu Shuxia (刘淑霞), the 49-year-old store owner, says that the largest paper home she sells for Tomb Sweeping Day is just over 1.2 meters.
The store’s best-seller though, according to Liu, is a villa with a garden. "It's on almost everyone’s list," she says.
Sun Xia, who regularly visits her family’s graves during Qingming Festival, says that she has been burning paper houses for years during the festival in the hope that the dead may live in better conditions.
Taobao store, tdbz.taobao.com
2. Luxury car
Price: RMB 28
The Chinese luxury car market is taking off -- in paper and in real life. Paper cars are some of most popular joss items sold according to local store owners, especially high-end brands.
Store manger Mrs. Chen is quite proud of her joss car lines, insisting the autos look as good inside as out.
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Inside, the vehicles have everything you’d see in the real deal, from seats to a steering wheel and brake and gas pedals.
“I’ll definitely purchase [a joss car] for my family member who liked to drive a lot before he died,” says Huang Danni, a 22-year-old girl who’s going to sweep tombs this weekend. “I hope he can drive the car to whatever place he wants to go in heaven.”
Taobao store, tdbz.taobao.com
3. Gold accessories
Price: RMB 2.5
Made with gold paper, this set of bling could be confused for a smaller version of the real deal. Watch, bracelet, glasses or hairpins, they’re all here.
A gold block, “engraved” with the words “This gold ingot weighs 500g. Verified by Fushi Credit Bank” in the center, shows the value that many people place on financial security -- in life and death.
Thankfully the joss versions don’t cost the living as much as the real thing.
623 Wan’an Lu, Jiangwan Town 江湾镇万安路623号, +86 1367 1890 772
4. Land deed and residence booklet
Price: RMB 3.5
Helping ancestors keep things above board can get a bit complicated, and joss land deeds and residence booklets ease the need for hongbao in the afterlife.
This land deed has an "official" seal on the cover, with rules and regulations spelled out inside.
“Land deeds are highly valued in China and that’s why the certificates are so popular,” says store owner Chen.
Residence booklets are also popular, reflecting how seriously the issue is for the living as well.
Generally, Chen says, certificates like these are bundled with the sale of paper houses and paper villas, but you can also buy them separately if they’re in stock.
Taobao store, tdbz.taobao.com
5. Cigarettes
Price: RMB 1.1
The Chinese government might be trying to ban smoking, but its reach doesn’t quite extend to the afterlife.
These cigarette packages contain just about everything a smoker could need to puff away into eternity, with every detail looked after so recipients won’t know that they’re not smoking their old Zhongnanhais
The anti-smoking campaigns are getting through to some people, even if not to their ancestors.
- More on CNNGo: China tries to ban smoking (again)
“Tobacco is bad for health,” says Chen Yichen, a college student. “It’s a terrible idea to burn that stuff for my ancestors.”
Score one for China’s anti-smoking campaign, although the store says that joss cigarette sales are still going strong.
259 Jiangyin Lu, near Daxing Lu 江阴街259号，近大兴街，+86 135 0171 4227
6. Baijiu
Price: RMB 3.9
Although bottles of Maotai are going for thousands of yuan for the living, the dead can get their own version for only a few kuai.
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Consisting of a plastic goblet and two bottles of joss Maotai, the set is often sold together with the cigarettes, says store owner Mr. Chen.
What’s a party without both?
259 Jiangyin Lu, near Daxing Lu 黄浦区江阴街259号, 近大兴街, +86 135 0171 4227
7. Mahjong
Price: RMB 4.2
“Mahjong was [my father’s] favorite game when he was alive, and that’s why we burn this for him,” explains Mr. Wang, as he shops for Tomb Sweeping Day. “We hope that he may have fun and enjoy himself in the heaven.”
Even the dead, it seems, could do with a little entertainment.
Though paper mahjong does not contain all the 144 pieces, during Qingming Festival it’s the idea that counts.
623 Wan’an Lu, Jiangwan Town 江湾镇万安路623号，+86 1367 1890 772
