How much middle-class death costs in Beijing
Editor's Notes : Qingming Festival falls on April 4 this year, when Chinese people usually pay tributes to their deceased family members. A Xinhua television crew investigated how much a family would pay for a fairly decent death and following services. A fictitious Beijing resident gives a posthumous monologue, which is, however, based on solid evidence after interviews in the real world.
BEIJING -- While soaring consumer products and housing prices have compelled many Beijing residents to complain about the high cost of living, it's equally costly to die a decent death in the Chinese capital.
I died from kidney failure Saturday in Chaoyang Hospital in the east side of Beijing.
I had been in critical condition for two days, during which my family had prepared me clothes for the afterlife -- a dark silk outfit with gold embroidered design that cost 2,800 yuan ($450), enough to buy this season's new Prada shirt.
Shortly after I stopped breathing at 11:00 pm, funeral service workers put my 180-pound-body in a casket, which they carried onto a Mercedes Benz van-turned hearse.
