A cremation urn on exhibit in Beijing. Photo: Wang Zi

By Lin Meilian

Everyone dies – an estimated 10 million people kick the bucket in China annually – but the funeral business itself never dies, which is why the Fourth China International Funeral Expo (CIFE) was the place to be on June 22-24 at the Cultural Palace of Nationalities in Beijing.

CIFE attracted 88 funeral and mortuary related companies, including nine foreign ones, some of which featured cutting-edge, eco-friendly ways to dispose of the dear departed in addition to plush polished Western style caskets roomy and comfortable enough to sleep in.

Also featured were tombstones with digital 3D video memorials, sprawling flower arrangements, posh cremation urns and high-tech cryogenic freezers for long-term storage.

And while we generally can’t choose when and how we will go, there were several examples from both foreign and Chinese companies on how one can choose to die green.

The Xi’an Yellow Soil Craft Product Co Ltd from Shaanxi Province produces earth-made after-life offerings that can be buried and decompose with the dead instead of being burned like the traditional paper offerings and polluting the air.

For a cool 380 yuan ($44) the dearly departed can be sent to the afterlife with a set of traditional Chinese offerings that includes old-style money, food, stores of oil and water, cups, lamps, miniature Xi’an warrior bodyguards, graceful concubines and a tortoise that represents long life.

“Our souvenirs are green products because people don’t need to burn the whole ‘package,’ including paper money and clothes for the dead, anymore,” Bi Liaoyuan, head of the company, told the Global Times.

Bi also guaranteed that his environmentally friendly offerings are made from Shaanxi soil – an auspicious place to be entombed, according to feng shui beliefs because several notable Chinese emperors were buried there.

“Nowadays people have no idea what to bury along with the dead. I give them alternatives,” Bi said. “Burying your loved one with our products will bring you good luck and fortune.”

He said they have sold over 2,000 sets since the business began last year.

A Korean company was also pushing the ecological disposal method with Promession, an alternative to cremation invented by Swedish biologist Susanne Wiigh-Masak in 1999.

The concept sounds like green science fiction. The body is frozen in vat of liquid nitrogen where it becomes very brittle. Next it is broken apart using ultrasonic vibrations and turned into a damp powder that is dried. Metals such as fillings and hip replacements are removed, and then it is packaged in a small biodegradable coffin that can be buried and decompose to help fertilize a memorial tree, plant or garden planted above it.

Young-Doo Cho, vice president of Promessa Korea, said that Promession is the most environmentally friendly burial method compared to burial or cremation.

“We see a business opportunity in China to offer a solution for the shortage of graveyards,” Cho said. He did not reveal the cost, but admitted it is more expensive than burial and cremation.

One shot service

Instead of having the body frozen after death or expensively embalmed, Minchuang Tiandikeji Co Ltd provides a handy injector that could make the corpse “look good” and delay it from decomposing if the mourners want it on display for as long as a week. The company name means “technology between heaven and earth.”

The injector is small, light and simple to operate. With a formula that contains formalin and Chinese herbs, a body could conceivably be kept for years at a room temperature, claimed company manager Peng Yun. He called it a “low carbon funeral.” Formalin is a solution of 37 percent formaldehyde in water, and generally used for fixing and preserving biological specimens.

“With only one shot in the heart, the body could be kept for years, like a Sleeping Beauty,” Peng said. “With this, those body freezing containers are out the window!”

Actually, though, it’s a series of shots starting with a 100-yuan ($14.70) injection that can keep a body “fresh” for 3-5 days. If another 60-yuan ($8.80) shot is administered, Peng said the remains would look good for a week. He said his company has shot up “tens of thousands” of corpses in China since 2000.

“But we say ‘no’ to some clients who want to keep the body from getting rotten forever,” he said. “Otherwise there would be thousands of corpses lying underground, like the living dead.”

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ISMAILIA, Egypt, June 27 (Xinhua) — Egyptian authorities denied on Sunday barring an Iranian Gaza-bound aid convoy from crossing Suez Canal.

Spokesman for the Suez Canal Authority Mahmoud Abdel Wahab denied in an exclusive statement to Xinhua the Iranian accusations, affirming that the authority is committed to allowing all civil and military ships to cross the canal in line with the Constantinople Agreement signed in 1888.

“This is totally untrue. We have announced so early that we will allow Iranian ships to cross the canal,” the Egyptian official said.

“The Constantinople Agreement obliges the Suez Canal (Authority) to allow all military and civil ships to cross the canal on condition of not doing harm to the environment,” he added.

The Iranian Red Crescent said Sunday the ship’s departure has been postponed due to restrictions imposed by Israel and Egypt’s barring of the ship from crossing the Suez Canal.

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JERUSALEM, June 27 (Xinhua) — Chief of Israel’s intelligence agency Mossad Meir Dagan’s tenure will not be extended, reportedly in light of the international criticism aimed at Israel following the January assassination of top Hamas commander Mahmoud al- Mabhouh in Dubai.

Israeli TV Channel 2 News reported over the weekend that Dagan has asked that his term as head of the Israeli spy agency be extended by another year, a request denied by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Dagan, according to the report, is due to step down within three months after eight years on the job.

The Prime Minister’s Office issued a statement the following day, refuting the report and saying that Dagan did not ask for an extension. “The prime minister decided last year to extend the head of Mossad’s tenure by a year. Since then, no additional decision has been made,” the statement read.

Sources in Israel’s intelligence community denied claims that the prime minister’s decision to retire Dagan was linked to al- Mabhouh’s assassination, an operation allegedly carried out by teams of Mossad agents but never confirmed by Israeli authorities. An international outrage ensued evidence presented by Dubai Police that the assassins had used forged passports and fake identities in the operation.

“We have no idea what was published or not,” a security official was quoted by the local daily Ma’ariv as saying. “What is clear is that when you carry out a lot of operations, statistics does step in.”

Dagan, a retired Israel Defense Forces (IDF) general, was appointed Mossad chief in 2002 by the then-prime minister Ariel Sharon. Soon after, Dagan declared that the organization would renew its active role in the fight against global terrorism and focus heavily on derailing Iran’s nuclear program.

In the eight years since, Mossad has been reportedly attributed with several operations, including the bombing of a Syrian nuclear facility, the assassination of Hezbollah’s military chief Imad Mugniyeh in Damascus in 2008, the bombing of a truck convoy last year in Sudan that had supposedly carried arms intended for Hezbollah and Hamas, and the assassinations of several top figures in Iran’s nuclear program.

It is yet unclear who will succeed Dagan as head of Mossad. The daily Ha’aretz reported on Sunday that finding the right person may prove to be a problem, since Dagan did not groom a successor and had forced three of the organization’s top commanders to leave their posts during his tenure.

According to the Channel 2 report, Netanyahu is considering to appoint a successor from within the Mossad’s rank. Candidates from outside the organization include current Shin Bet chief Yuval Diskin and Yoav Galant, head of the IDF Southern Command.

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