A funeral to wake up the dead?

Love this.

In some parts of China, local villagers believed the more mourners at a funeral the more honour the deceased (or family) would receive. Thus the family adopts the strategy of ensuring as many mourners as possible attend the funeral of a loved one.

But how?

Better-off families usually hired two troupes to make funerals ‘more bustling’ so as to attract the mourners.

What troupes?

Striptease! Yahoooooo!

I love those Chinese innovation ;-) Two troupes were invited to strip off at the funeral of a villager called Liang on August 16. About 200 villagers, including children, rolled up to Liang's funeral. What honour ;-)

Strippers were once a common sight at funerals in the Donghai area. But hey, what do you meant “were”?

I reckon because striptease troupes do not add to the solemnity of the occasion, Chinese authorities have cracked down on the unseemly activity. It has even set up a ‘funeral misdeeds’ hotline after the recent crackdown on hiring strippers. The news report said callers to the hotline were in line for a reward of about $50.

Five striptease troupe bosses were arrested in east China's Jiangsu Province last week after ‘obscene performances’ at a funeral. Dash it, wish I had been there!

Obscene? Maybe the police don’t want the dead to wake up? ;-) Bloody spoilsport.