A tornado hit a town in southern Chinese city of Guangzhou, Guangdong Province, ripping off roofs, snapping tree branches, and damaging agricultural facilities on Sunday.
An amateur footage released online captured a cone-shaped tornado as it swept through the town of Lanhe, creating sparks when it passed through high-voltage power lines.
Electricity workers rushed to the town after the disaster to repair the damaged power lines.
One eyewitness recounted his experience.
"I heard the sound of wind, then I looked at the ceiling, and the entire house started shaking, as if in an earthquake. The roof was torn off in an instant," said the witness.
The witness also said that the adjacent tin sheets of the house collapsed after the roof was gone and his roommate was injured by glass shards in the mouth.
The tornado also flattened some crops, primarily orange saplings.
The local meteorological department said that the tornado affected some three hectares of farmland, damaged six makeshift houses, and toppled several trees.
Efforts have been made to clear the fallen trees, while work is underway to clean up the damaged houses in the aftermath of the natural disaster.
Tornado hits Guangzhou town, ripping off roofs, toppling trees
Tornado hits Guangzhou town, ripping off roofs, toppling trees
Tornado hits Guangzhou town, ripping off roofs, toppling trees
The concept of eco-friendly burials -- ways of laying loved ones to rest that reduce environmental impact -- has grown in popularity among the Chinese people, especially over the past five years.
In China, eco-friendly burials comprise forms such as lawn burials, flowerbed burials as well as tree burials, which require minimal land. Sea burials and biodegradable urn burials that do not take up any land are also popular options.
Analysts believe eco-friendly burials will help to alleviate the strain on land resources, contribute to environmental protection, and also fulfill people's emotional needs for remembering their departed loved ones. The Ministry of Civil Affairs said in 2024, there were 194,700 ecological burials of ashes across the country, up 67 percent from 2019. Among them, 53,500 were sea burials, an increase of 26 percent over 2019, and 141,200 tree burials, an increase of 90 percent over 2019. Today, 28 provinces in China offer rewards and subsidies to families who choose eco-burials.
"More and more people begin to accept land-saving ecological burial methods. China's land-saving ecological burial methods such as sea burials and tree burials have been on the rise every year. China's land-saving ecological burial facilities have become more full-fledged as local governments have increased their efforts to build these facilities," said Liu Tao, director of the Department of Social Affairs under the Ministry of Civil Affairs.
April 4 marked this year's Qingming Festival, also known as Tomb-Sweeping Day, a traditional Chinese festival for people to pay tribute to the deceased and to worship their ancestors.
During the period around this festival, people often visit graveyards, where they traditionally pay tribute to the dead by offering food and burning incense and paper money.
In recent years, with the support from the government, many have turned to greener practices, such as offering flowers and lighting electric candles. During this year's three-day Qingming Festival holiday from Friday to Sunday, people across China made nearly 54.34 million trips to burial sites, up 14.3 percent from last year.
Eco-friendly burials take root among Chinese people
