China family buries luxury car as offering, prompting government reprimand, public apology
Death of ‘avid collector’ of expensive vehicles sparks bizarre funeral ceremony which raises environmental fears
A Mercedes-Benz was buried as a funerary offering in a village in northeastern China, igniting public outrage over legal violations and environmental safety.
A viral video shows some villagers in Liaoyang, Liaoning province, attending the funeral of a septuagenarian on April 9.
Sources told the mainland media that the dead person was an avid collector of luxury cars, prompting his children to bury a real vehicle to ensure his soul’s peaceful passage.
The car, a black Mercedes-Benz S450L valued at around 1.1 million yuan (US$161,000), bore the number plate “8888,” a number synonymous with wealth.
Plates featuring four identical digits are considered auspicious and can fetch up to 250,000 yuan (US$37,000) locally.
The clip showed an excavator lifting the car next to the newly erected tombstone. A red cloth draped the vehicle, and red ribbons were tied to the side mirrors.
Dozens of villagers then helped push it into the grave, some even grabbing shovels to cover it with soil.
