SHENZHEN, Jan. 27 (Xinhuanet) -- Shenzhen, a mushrooming city neighboring Hong Kong, is promoting modern burial methods.

    The methods include grassland burial, tree burial and sea burial. In the past year, ashes of some 273,000 deceased were buried under trees or grasslands and ashes of 21,980 bodies were cast into the sea, according to the Shenzhen municipal government civil affairs department.

    From 1999 to 2003, the city, evolving from a small fishing village, removed 369,700 ancient tombs dotted across the urban areas, once wild field, and removed 644,000 bodies, according to local civil affairs department.

    The action cleared up 13.80 million square meters of area, where the city plans to build grasslands, parks, factories and residential buildings. Enditem