THE "green cards permitting burial in coffins in Shanghai are only being issued to overseas Chinese or foreigners while local residents have to choose cremation.

The city has completed the first-phase of its "revolution" in funeral customs, aiming to achieve 100 per cent cremation of dead citizens.

The revolution was first advocated by former Chinese leader Mao Zedong after 1949. During the second stage, which is occurring now, the "revolution" will be focused on dissuading Shanghainese from keeping the remains.

"However, as a mark of respect to the traditions of foreign people and overseas Chinese who want to be buried in the Motherland, we allow them to choose to be buried in coffins," said Zhu Jinlong, director of Shanghai Funeral and Interment Services. "Only one out of the 40-plus public cemeteries in Shanghai has been designated to receive such people."

Confronting the rocketing prices for lots in the cemetery, those with "green card priority" have to pay even more.

One tomb, 20 square metres on average, in the Huaqiao Cemetery (for overseas Chinese) costs between 60,000 yuan (US$7,200) and several millions of yuan. In comparison cemeteries for locals charge an average of between 10,000 and 40,000 yuan (US$1,200 to 4,800).

"The environment and location are both better. It faces a lake and has plenty of greenery," said a staff member with the cemetery.

Shanghai opened its first foreign cemetery in 1844, set up by British, one year after the city was forced to open as a "treaty port".

The cemetery was then within the former British Concession. The site was later turned into the Huangpu District Stadium.

As the old British Concession became quite international, the cemetery was also open to expats from other countries at that time.

All the old cemeteries in Shanghai were destroyed during the "cultural revolution" (1966-76).

Funeral home services

"About 400,000 tombs in the city, which were considered symbols of old customs at that time, were removed," Zhu said.

At present, few foreigners have chosen to be buried in Shanghai. The city's funeral home services only have to help to deal with about 100 corpses of expats every year.

"Our services mainly involve embalming the corpses to preserve them for the duration of the trips back to their home countries," said He Jianping, an official with the Shanghai Longhua Funeral Home.

Shanghai has taken the lead in China in embalming technology, which can preserve a corpse for up to six months. The city has special institute devoted to embalming skills.

"Embalming could be provided as a funeral home service, rather than in hospitals. This is usual in other cities in the country," He said.

An 'imported' idea

With more foreign people visiting or working in Shanghai, funeral homes have begun to take them into consideration. The Longhua Funeral Home has set up a department especially for foreigners, which helps to embalm and pack the corpses and deal with the procedures required to transport them from the country.

"We have currently kept a lid on the prices for these services for foreigners. They are a little higher than the domestic charges, but not - as in years past - five times the price," Zhu said.

Before 1924 when the first funeral home was opened by an American in Shanghai, Chinese had never had specific organizations providing places and services for the hosting of funeral ceremonies. Instead, friends and family members would help to set up a simple mourning hall in the dead person's house.

A group of people were employed to lift the coffin and to bury the person. This group of people was called the "hong bai gang" (people to lift coffins or the wooden sedan chairs on weddings).

Ever since the American-owned funeral parlour opened, at the crossroads of Jiaozhou Lu and Xinzha Lu (now an artificial limb factory), Shanghainese found the foreign customs saved energy, so funeral homes began to spread in the city, with many Chinese investing in the business.

Embalming skills were learnt from the American funeral home and handed down by the local apprentices working there.

Before 1949, there were over 30 funeral parlours in Shanghai. After the founding of People's Republic of China, all the funeral homes were taken over by the State.

"It remains a controversial issue whether the funeral parlours should be profitable businesses or maintained as non-profit services," said He.

Although other provinces, such as Fujian, in East China, and Hebei, in North China, have had private-owned funeral parlours for some time, Shanghai has not ventured into this area yet.

However, Zhu said the reputation of State-owned parlours in the city has been threatened by illegal funeral agents, which claimed to contact funeral homes and to arrange all the other procedures related to funerals.

"They have a better 'nose' for information about deaths in hospitals because they have bribed the nurses to notify them of new deaths as soon as they happen," Zhu said.

He said that on one ridiculous occasion nine agents swarmed a household that had just lost a family member, lobbying the survivors to employ them.

Only two of the "numerous" agents had permission from the Municipal Government to provide such services, according to the official.

The agents provide similar services to State-owned funeral homes, although they doubled the prices.

Zhu said that later this year restrictions on such private agents are expected to be removed, so that more of them will begin to compete with the State-provided service.

Zhu expressed concern that the trade will then become even more chaotic.