From "Looking like a cemetery from a distance" to "Looking like a park up close"
The Tianshan Cemetery in Junzhuang Town, Mentougou District, with more than 20,000 tombs, has been established for more than 30 years, making it a famous burial place in western Beijing.
During the period before and after the Qingming Festival, this place will receive more than 100,000 grave-sweeping crowds, and this year it is estimated that the number will reach around 150,000.
The number of people and vehicles has increased, and the "bleaching" problem caused by traditional tombs with standing monuments has become more and more obvious. Looking from the ridge in the distance, the patches of tombstones seem to be patches on the green hills. This is in conflict with the shallow mountain ecology that Mentougou District is trying to restore.
Today, this is changing.
Since last year, Mentougou District has carried out a "major operation" on the Tianshan Cemetery. The core idea is to achieve the effect of no monuments in the distance, only greenery, and then gradually transform the traditional cemetery into an ecological "park" with breathing functions and for recreation.
This is not only an innovation in funeral concepts, but also a practical protection action for precious vegetation in shallow mountainous areas.
The monument was erected and "lay flat", and the land utilization rate increased five times
The first step in the transformation is to "operate" on the traditional tombstone cemetery.
In the ecological tomb pilot area designated by the park, there are construction workers. They removed the stone monuments that were originally erected high and replaced the original stone monuments with a method of hiding all the tombs underground.
On the ground, only a miniature tombstone remains next to the lawn, which is only as big as a piece of A4 paper.
Don’t underestimate this transition from “vertical” to “lying”, the changes brought about are astonishing.
In the past, there was a land occupied by a tomb with a monument. Now, five such ecological tombs can be planned, and the area is directly reduced to one-fifth of the original area.
In this way, the land resources in the park are greatly released.
More importantly, when looking from a distance, the previously dense forest of steles has disappeared. Within the range of sight, there are only continuous green vegetation and lawns dotted among them.
For the citizens who came to pay homage and sweep, the design of such a "lying monument" did not affect their grief. The deceased's information was still clearly engraved on the tombstone, making it easier to identify during the memorial ceremony. However, the environment became quieter and more natural.
Five new burial styles turn the cemetery into a "garden of life"
The relevant person in charge of the Mentougou District Civil Affairs Bureau stated that the ecological transformation is far from being limited to a simple situation like "bringing the monument down."
In the next step, Tianshan Cemetery will scientifically plan and build a variety of land-saving ecological burial facilities in accordance with the requirements of "reduced development and green development".
Nowadays, in the planning process, there are tree burials, flower burials, lawn burials, landscape stone burials, three-dimensional burials and many other forms.
Burial next to a tree is called tree burial, which allows life to continue in a different form when the branches are luxuriant. Flower burial and lawn burial allow the tomb to be hidden under the flowers and grass, allowing thoughts and fragrance to coexist. Landscape stone burial is an exquisite integration of tombstones and garden stones, and every stone becomes part of the natural landscape in the park.
The ultimate goal of these facilities is to shape the entire cemetery into an ecological garden-style cemetery that presents a state of "park-like cemetery area and miniaturization of tombs."
Imagine that when people arrive here in the future, they will no longer experience the depressing and heavy feeling of traditional cemeteries. Instead, they will feel as if they have stepped into a quiet and peaceful mountain park, where there are lush green trees, chirping birds and the fragrance of blooming flowers. While commemorating their loved ones, they can also appreciate the beauty of nature presented by the ecological restoration of shallow mountains.
Renovate old tomb areas in batches to "heal" Qianshan
The renovation work will not be left behind for the old cemeteries in the park that have been built for many years.
Mentougou District will carry out ecological transformation of the old tomb area in phases and batches.
This shows that those traditional cemeteries that have been used for a long time and have slightly outdated facilities will gradually be optimized in accordance with new ecological standards.
This is not only for aesthetic reasons, but also to protect the green mountains and green waters of Qianshan.
Tianshan Cemetery is located in a shallow mountainous area, which was originally a transitional area with abundant vegetation and fragile ecology.
In the past, large-scale hardened tombstones and frequent human activities brought a certain degree of pressure to Qianshan's soil, water sources, and vegetation.
By reducing the hardened area, increasing green coverage, and using degradable materials, the transformed cemetery can effectively conserve water sources, reduce soil erosion, and allow the land to "breathe" again.
Such a "looking back" behavior and continuous management measures for the old cemetery area demonstrate the determination and patience of Mentougou District in ecological protection. It does not adopt a one-size-fits-all approach to deal with related matters, but steadily advances various tasks and is committed to ensuring that every inch of land can be properly treated.
The sacrificial scanning experience has been upgraded, and the green concept has gradually gained popularity.
The most direct feeling brought by such changes to the hundreds of thousands of people who come to visit tombs every year is that the experience of worship and sweeping has changed in a better direction, becoming more high-quality and upgraded.
In the past, when walking through the monument area, the space was relatively cramped and the line of sight was easily blocked.
Now, as the ecological cemetery is expanding step by step, the public space in the park is becoming wider and the greening levels on both sides of the trails are becoming more diverse.
Although the tomb has become "smaller", the environment has become "bigger".
This change is also affecting people's funeral concepts in a subtle way.
In the past, many people thought that the cemetery must be "magnificent" and the monument must be "tall."
But now, after seeing such a "lying monument" design, which has a solemn feeling, is also environmentally friendly, and saves land resources, more and more citizens are beginning to accept and identify with this green and civilized burial method.
Starting from "thick burial", it has gone through the stage of "heavy maintenance and thin burial", and has continued to develop to the current "ecological burial". The change in concepts requires a period of growth. However, the ecological reform measures taken by Tianshan Cemetery have successfully provided an Reference objects that serve as examples and can be seen with one's own eyes and touched with one's own hands enable people to realize based on their own actual feelings: the respect for the deceased can completely coexist harmoniously with the awe of nature.
This ecological transformation was launched last year. For Tianshan Cemetery, this is a change, a profound change from a traditional cemetery to an ecological and humanistic memorial park.
Mentougou District is exploring a win-win approach to "peaceful death" and "ecological protection" with practical actions by hiding tombs underground, promoting land-saving ecological burial methods, and transforming old tomb areas in batches.
In the future, this place will not only be a place for people to express their grief, but also become an important node in the shallow mountain ecological restoration belt of Mentougou District, a green home that can not only soothe people's hearts, but also conserve the ecology.
When "seeing green without monuments" was finally transformed from the planning vision into reality, what we saw was not only the new vitality achieved by a cemetery, but also a region's persistence and practice of the concept of green development.
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