A young woman from Henan, Luoyang, born after 2000 and known as “Xiao Bai,” studied music in college. However, after returning from studying abroad in the United Kingdom, she became a professional grave sweeper, bowing hundreds of times a day, earning a monthly salary of only 4000 RMB, sparking attention on the internet.
According to a report from Dahe Daily on March 31, Xiao Bai is a post-00s generation grave sweeper, also known as a professional grave sweeper by many. She has been doing this job for some time now. With Qingming Festival approaching, Xiao Bai must perform ancestral rituals for an average of 10 deceased individuals every day, bowing hundreds of times.
She majored in music in college and went abroad to study in the UK. Upon returning to China, she started helping people sweep graves at the cemetery, earning around 4000 RMB per month.
The report mentions that in the Phoenix Mountain Ecological Memorial Park, there are many grave sweepers like Xiao Bai. Through activities like wiping tombstones, offering fresh flowers, reciting sacrificial texts, and praying on behalf of others, they fulfill the wishes of those who cannot be present at the gravesite.
The topic labeled as “Post-00s girl returns from studying in the UK to become a professional grave sweeper” has attracted attention on the internet.
Netizens expressed their views, with one saying, “Do we now need a returned overseas student to watch over the deceased? Isn’t it a bit demeaning for a student studying abroad to do this job?” Another commented, “I can’t believe it—spending hundreds of thousands to study abroad, only to come back and earn four thousand a month!” And someone added, “Returning from studying abroad to work as a grave sweeper for a monthly salary of four thousand truly makes no sense. What’s the point of going abroad? If being a grave sweeper is the destination, there are several funeral professional schools in the country, so why spend a million going abroad?”
Some netizens also wondered, “Is there any meaning in having someone who has no blood relation or acquaintance sweep the grave?”