新型祭祀品清明时节热销

A shop in Dongguan, Guangdong Province selling sacrificial offerings.  广东省东莞市一家祭祀品专卖店。

当人们急于获得最新版本的iPhone和iPad时，已故的人们也可以享受到这些时髦的高科技产品，尽管他们的这些产品是纸制的。

清明节也叫扫墓节，是人们祭拜先人的时节；随着四月五日这一节日的到来，广州市多家祭祀品商店已经开始将纸制“苹果”产品摆上货架。

在一家名为“永兴行”的商店，不同颜色的纸制组合套装（内含两台iPad和四台iPhone）售价6元（90美分）；一台纸制MacBook的售价也是6元。

打印在外包装上的产品名称与实际的iPhone和iPad产品名称极为相似，但品牌名为“冥王”，即“死者之王”的意思。

这家商店老板拒绝透露其姓名，也拒绝透露该产品受欢迎的程度；但广州火葬场外的商家们表示，他们将很快会上一些货。

此外，祭祀品商店出售的纸制品种类应有尽有，包括松下液晶电视机、家用电器，以及更为传统的祭祀用品，如冥币、信用卡、衣服、机票、海鲜、汽车、别墅，洗面及护肤用品。

奢侈品也越来越受欢迎。一家商店正在首次销售中国顶级白酒品牌之一的贵州茅台酒。三瓶纸制茅台酒和酒杯总共售价8元。

一位姓刘的老妇人为已故的丈夫买了一套酒品。 她说：“他生前爱喝酒。我要特地为他烧这种好酒。”

中国消费者协会在接受《重庆晚报》记者采访时说，每年清明节期间，全国共有1000余吨的纸制品作为祭祀品化为灰烬，总价值超过100亿元。

据广州市民政局统计，今年清明节期间在公共场所进行祭拜的人数和车辆预计将分别超过去年同期的460万和37万。

乳猪和鲜花类传统祭祀品的价格今年在广州也水涨船高。

广州酒家连锁店总经理助理赵利生说，今年每只乳猪售价为468，去年仅为398元。赵先生将价格上涨归因于猪肉价格不断上涨和人力资源成本加大。

Chinese prefer 'paper Apples' as gifts for Qingming Festival

While people rush to get the latest iPhones and iPads, the deceased can also enjoy these trendy high-tech devices, although theirs will be made of paper.

With the Qingming Festival, or Tomb Sweeping Day, a time for paying respect to the ancestors, falling on April 5, some shops in Guangzhou selling sacrificial offerings have put paper-made versions of Apple products on their shelves.

A package of two iPads and four iPhones, paper-made and in different colors, goes for 6 yuan (90 cents), at a shop named Yongxinghang. A MacBook also costs 6 yuan.

The names of the products printed on the package closely resemble the printed names of iPhones and iPads, but the brand is mingwang, or "the king of the dead".

The shop owner, who refused to give his name, declined to say how popular the products are but vendors outside the Guangzhou Crematorium said they will get some stock soon.

Also available at sacrificial offering shops are paper versions of Panasonic LCD TV sets, and every electrical home appliance one can think of, as well as the more traditional cash, credit cards, clothes, air tickets, seafood, cars, villas, face wash and aftershave.

Luxury goods are also gaining popularity. One shop is selling Kweichow Moutai, one of China's top liquor brands, for the first time. A package of three bottles of the Moutai and cups, all made of paper, costs 8 yuan.

An elderly woman surnamed Liu bought a set for her deceased husband. "He loved drinking before. I will burn this premium liquor for him."

Every year across the country, more than 1,000 tons of paper products are burnt as offerings during the Qingming Festival period, costing more than 10 billion yuan, China Consumers' Association told Chongqing Evening News.

People worshipping their ancestors in public places in the month around the Qingming Festival this year and their vehicles are expected to surpass the 4.6 million and 370,000 recorded in Guangzhou in the same period last year, according to the city's civil affairs bureau.

This year, the prices of traditional offerings, such as suckling pig and flowers have gone up significantly in Guangzhou.

A suckling pig costs 468 yuan at the Guangzhou Restaurant chain this year, compared with 398 yuan last year, said Zhao Liping, an assistant to the general manager of the company. Zhao attributed the hike to rising pig prices and human resources costs.

(China Daily contributed the story, translated by Li Jingrong for China.org.cn March 30, 2011)