On April 5th, the traditional Chinese Tomb-Sweeping Day, people gather to pay respects to their deceased loved ones by sweeping tombs and making offerings. But this year, ahead of Tomb-Sweeping Day, a new trend has emerged on the mainland of China where individuals are offering paid services to sweep graves on behalf of family members, leading to incidents of people sweeping the wrong graves.
Tomb-Sweeping Day, observed on April 5th, is when people visit graveyards to honor their ancestors. However, due to various reasons, some individuals are unable to visit cemeteries themselves, giving rise to a new industry of proxy tomb-sweeping services.
According to a report from Jiemian News on April 4th, starting from April, the business of proxy tomb-sweeping has become increasingly busy. Service providers include college students, professional funeral companies, and delivery platforms, with fees ranging from 90 to 4990 Chinese Yuan. The services have evolved from individual runners to a more organized industry.
A college student named Xiao Chen revealed that this Tomb-Sweeping Day, he offered proxy tomb-sweeping services online during his spare time. His services include buying flowers, placing them at gravestones, wiping the gravestones, and offering sacrifices. He has already completed two orders, with one taking three hours and earning him 90 Yuan.
In addition to individuals, large delivery platforms and traditional funeral companies from cities like Chongqing and Shantou have also started offering proxy tomb-sweeping services. Some platforms have premium packages priced at 4990 Yuan, which include a bottle of Maotai liquor from Guizhou and a high-end fruit platter.
A service provider named Xiaowang from Anshan, Liaoning, stated that competition in this industry is fierce and requires better services. His standout feature is the technical aspect; he carries a DJI Action camera throughout the process and offers an extra 50 Yuan for live streaming the entire service. He also provides complimentary service of reading sacrificial texts and promises to personally perform the ceremony with sincerity and dedication.
Research indicates that most individuals in need of these services are those working in other cities, living overseas, physically disabled, or simply too busy to visit and pay respects to their ancestors in person.
However, with many new service providers entering the sector, issues have begun to arise. Problems such as lack of security in private transactions, getting blocked after making transfers, significant discrepancies between promised and actual services, downgraded quality of services, and even instances of sweeping the wrong graves have been reported. The most common issue is the reduction in promised services: businesses guaranteeing a full package of services like cleaning gravestones, reciting blessings, and offering sacrifices, but delivering only basic and rushed offerings, often skipping essential steps, leaving consumers with no means of recourse.
Many internet users believe that honoring deceased loved ones on Tomb-Sweeping Day should be a personal and heartfelt gesture that cannot be replaced by others, emphasizing the importance of genuine respect and not just going through the motions.