A Cemetery in a Neighboring Apartment Is a Common Thing in China (5 photos)

In China, the ashes of the deceased are often stored in columbaria, and the more expensive the land in regular cemeteries, the more popular the columbaria are. To such an extent... That yes, they are opened in residential apartments of regular high-rise buildings.





Translated as grave, what an ad

There are more dead people in residential areas than living

The Chinese often buy apartments as an investment (hello, abandoned cities of new buildings where no one lives). And in order for the apartments to generate income, they began to convert them into burial vaults or, as they are digestibly called, "ash sections".



The cemetery business is probably the most profitable in the world. It's strange that Musk didn't get rich on it

Moreover, if several neighboring apartments are bought out at once so that the burial vaults can be visited freely, then in some houses "there are fewer living than dead".

What is a cemetery crisis

Well, where to put the relatives? A standard burial place in a remote cemetery in Beijing costs more than 100,000 yuan. Can't afford that? The Chinese too. But besides that, you don't buy the land forever, it's only a 20-year lease, and every year you'll have to pay a cemetery administration fee.

And if there are several deceased relatives? A direct path to ruin.





There are very cool, very modern columbariums in China, even with VI ar glasses

But an apartment in Zhangjiakou for 70 years (also not forever, that's how it works in China) costs 250,000 yuan. A small remote area is ideal for suddenly sticking a cemetery on the third floor.

At the same time, as a rule, the neighbors are not informed that there will soon be a columbarium here, so as not to cause psychological stress and not to stir up disputes.



What quiet, cultured neighbors

The Chinese don’t like it...

The Chinese are quite practical, so no one is happy to live next door to someone like that. But no one wants to suddenly pay hundreds of thousands of yuan just for a place in the ground.

That’s why people grumble, but use it and build new ones.

And for the most part, these are not commercial columbaria at all. It's just that a large family or clan unites and pays for one apartment. And immediately about 15 tombs accumulate, people quietly go to commemorate, everyone is simply given duplicate keys.

Are columbarium apartments legal?

From a legal point of view, such use of residential units is illegal. The purpose of commercial housing is to live in, not to store the ashes of the deceased, which is a departure from the generally accepted understanding of the concept of "housing".



But vulgar artificial flowers at the entrance are already unnecessary

You can't buy an apartment with a view to a columbarium, so in principle you can sue such "bad apartments".

But there is a legal loophole! In China, a homeowner is not prohibited from storing the ashes of his deceased relatives in his home and paying tribute to them, if these actions do not affect the normal life of other homeowners. That is, if at least one of your grandfathers is there - who will forbid you to arrange a memorial room?

If you think about it, columbaria are pretty clean and quiet places, they certainly won't listen to music until three in the morning. So I personally wouldn't be against such neighbors. Anything is better than some rowdy guys, and if it makes the apartment cheaper to buy - YES PLEASE.