每逢“清明”備哀思。
唐朝詩人白居易《寒食野望吟》詩云："烏啼鵲噪昏喬木，清明寒食誰家哭？風吹曠野紙錢飛，古墓累累春草綠。棠梨花映白楊樹，盡是生死離別處。冥漠重泉哭不聞，蕭蕭暮雨人歸去。"
到了現代，有了各式各樣的寄託哀思的方法，而不僅僅侷限於傳統的掃墓與踏青。
【Brief of Qing Ming Festival 】
Celebrated two weeks after the vernal equinox, Tomb Sweeping Day is one of the few traditional Chinese holidays.
Its Chinese name "Qing Ming" literally means "Clear Brightness," hinting at its importance as a celebration of Spring. Similar to the spring festivals of other cultures, Tomb Sweeping Day celebrates the rebirth of nature, while marking the beginning of the planting season and other outdoor activities.
生態友好型安葬
Non-traditional burial practices may become even more popular following a Ministry of Civil Affairs guideline released on December 2012 that encourages local governments to roll out policies to subsidize eco-friendly burials.
去年12月民政部發布指導意見要求各地政府出臺生態友好型安葬補貼政策之後，非傳統安葬方式可能會更加普及。
生態友好型安葬（eco-friendly burials），簡稱eco-burials（生態葬），指人的遺體火化（cremation）後，通過“草坪葬（grassland burial）”、“海葬（sea burial）”、“樹葬（tree burial）”等不佔地或少佔地的方式處理骨灰（cremains），具有環保、節能和成本低等特點。
“樹葬”
Ahead of Tomb Sweeping Day, an occasion for worshipping ancestors that fell on Saturday this year, the cemetery promoted free non-traditional "tree funerals". The ashes of a cremated loved one are placed under a tree in a biodegradable urn.
在清明節到來之際，一種與傳統墓葬形式不同的“樹葬”在一些地方出現。親人火化後骨灰裝入一個可生物降解的骨灰盒內，安葬在一棵下。
網上葬禮
Online funerals or burials would not retain the ashes, but set up an online cemetery and memorialize the deceased by posting an obituary and funeral messages.
網上葬禮不會保留骨灰，而是建立一個網上墓地，通過發佈訃聞和悼念信息來紀念死者。
在上面的報道中，online funeral即“網上葬禮”。現代人的生活節奏越來越快，再加上資源稀缺，連葬禮都推出了一切從簡的網上版本。
合葬墓穴
A separate tomb should cover no more than 0.5 square meter, and a multi-burial grave is designated less than 0.8 square meter.
城市公益性公墓獨立墓穴的單位佔地面積不得超過0.5㎡，合葬墓穴的單位佔地面積不得超過0.8㎡。
此外，居民居住區500米以內嚴禁建設城市公益性公墓（social welfare cemeteries）。
生前契約
Cemeteries in Shanghai are running trials on pre-plan funeral arrangement contracts.
上海一些墓園試行推出“生前契約”。
The service allows people to decide their own funeral arrangements. They sign contracts with funeral service providers and tailor the service content to suit themselves.
“生前契約”服務可以讓人們決定自己的葬禮安排。他們跟殯葬服務機構簽約，定製適合自己的葬禮服務。
代人祭掃
With China's Qingming Festival approaching, some stores on the country's biggest online market Taobao have begun offering to send "professionals" to weep at graves on tomb-sweeping day, the Beijing Times reported on Monday.
據《京華時報》週一報道，隨著清明節的臨近，中國最大的網絡商城淘寶上的一些商戶開始推出清明節代人祭掃服務。
數碼祭品
As iPhones and iPads are getting more popular in China, some people are choosing paper-made Apple goods as offerings to their deceased relatives, the Beijing Morning Post reported Tuesday.
據《北京晨報》週二報道，隨著iPhone、iPad在中國越來越走俏，人們開始選擇紙質的蘋果產品祭奠過世的親人。
文中的paper-made Apple goods指的就是“paper iPhone（紙iPhone）”，今年的 Qingming Festival/Tomb-Sweeping Day（清明節）將近，許多淘寶商鋪開始出售包括iPhone4、iPad2在內的paper digital devices（紙質數碼產品）。
除了出售紙質產品本身之外，還有配套齊全的各種仿真chargers（充電器）、earphones（耳機）、 data lines（數據線）等，售價從幾十元到幾百元不等。有消費者表示，買這類電子產品的sacrificial offerings（祭品）是為了“讓他們也能感受到社會的進步”。
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