BEIJING, April 3 (Xinhua) -- Even as they complain about soaring downtown house prices, Chinese citizens are finding that accommodation in the afterlife is just as pricey.

    An austere tomb in a cemetery located on the outskirts of Beijing is priced at 2,500 yuan (about 321 U.S. dollars) per square meter, almost 14 times more than it was ten years ago.

    China's Ministry of Civil Affairs blames speculative purchases of tomb land as the reason for the price hikes and is considering a ban.

    Cemeteries will only be allowed to sell tombs to customers with death certificates of relatives or friends, according to a draft regulation on funeral and interment the Ministry is now revising.

    Those violating the regulation will face fines of up to 500,000yuan (64,000 U.S. dollars), the regulation says.

    "But speculation is not the only factor", said an analyst. "The fact that Chinese traditionally value a happy afterlife has helped create a market."

    Instead of small, austere single tombs, customers prefer large group tombs for family members and ancestors who want to be reunited in the afterworld, said a cemetery staff member, who has seen a boom in tomb purchases ahead of the annual Tomb Sweeping Festival on April 5.

    A heavily decorated European style 18-square-meter marble tomb could be priced at over 500,000 yuan, he said.

    The ministry is considering limiting the area of a single tomb to rein in the crazy prices.

    "It's kind of sad when one's final resting place becomes a business," said a customer.