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Zoey Zhang

At Beijing’s Babaoshan Funeral Home, China’s only all-female cremation team works in searing heat, defying gender stereotypes while gaining a deeper understanding of life and death.
The five women, whose average age is 28, carry out their duties with precision and composure, guiding the dead through their final farewell.
Known as the Fire Roses, the team formed in 2022, with Yun Xiaolin as its first member.
Yun had originally enrolled in a cabin crew programme at her parents’ urging, but dropped out after realising it was not for her, the Beijing News reported.

The death of her grandfather, whom she did not get to see one last time, changed her course. Moved by the experience, she chose to study funeral services instead.
Yun joined the funeral home in 2020 and became its first female cremator, earning recognition for her skill and work ethic.
Their work involves verifying and recording details of the dead, operating cremation equipment, collecting and sorting ashes, and maintaining the machinery.
Each case requires a tailored cremation plan based on factors including the person’s age, sex, weight, cause of death and the duration the body has been kept in cold storage.

In China, cremators must obtain professional certification and pass grading exams.
The role calls for physical stamina, technical expertise and emotional resilience, and has long been dominated by men in their 40s and 50s.
Many still see the job as too gruelling or unsettling for women, but the Fire Roses have upended those assumptions.
Inside the cremation chamber, temperatures can climb above 40 degrees Celsius. Years of working in such intense heat have left Yun with dark patches on her face that are difficult to fade.

Collecting the ashes is another ordeal, as the remains stay dangerously hot and can still burn through protective gloves.
Also, implanted devices such as pacemakers, along with other metal objects placed within the dead, can explode during cremation.
Despite the challenges, the Fire Roses view their work differently: as a vital link between the living and the dead.
One team member Liu Dejie recalled a heartbreaking case, when a father pleaded with her to preserve his daughter’s prosthetic limb during cremation.
Through careful and precise handling, Liu was able to return it to him intact.

When the father received it, he clasped his own hand against the prosthetic, a moment that deeply moved Liu and prompted her to reflect on her own relationship with her father and cherish her family more deeply.
Since last year, Liu has made a point of seeking out small pleasures after work, trying new restaurants and spending her weekends at concerts.
The reason, she told the media, is simple: “Only when you come so close to death can you truly understand the meaning of life.”
Yun now hopes to have two children, a desire shaped in part by an encounter with the family of a 17-year-old only daughter who had died.
Watching them collapse in grief and say they wanted to follow their daughter left a lasting impression on Yun.
The job has also transformed team member Nie Mengxu.
Nie told the mainland media that even after she began working, she used to ask her parents for money, but now her attachment to material things has faded.

She no longer longs for luxury goods or even a home of her own, and says small pleasures are enough to make her happy.
She also calls her parents often and takes them travelling whenever she can during holidays.
The story of the Fire Roses has resonated widely on mainland social media.
One person wrote: “They face death every day, but understand better than many how to live with passion.”
“It is not that women are unsuited to this work. It is that society is too used to deciding what women can and cannot do. The Fire Roses are truly admirable,” said another.


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‘Fire Roses’: China only all-female cremation team challenges stereotypes, reshapes mortality views

China’s only all-female cremation team, the “Fire Roses”, works tirelessly in Beijing’s extreme heat, cremating bodies and meticulously cleaning bones. Photo: SCMP composite/QQ.com

Famous Five: The Fire Roses, above, have to work in extremely hot conditions. Photo: QQ.com

One of the team makes sure the cremation equipment is working properly. Photo: QQ.com

Another member of the Fire Roses uses a large broom to clean out a furnace. Photo: QQ.com

Another team member hard at work. One of their duties is to meticulously clean the bones of the dead. Photo: QQ.com

One of the women wears protective gloves as she checks on an ongoing cremation. Photo: QQ.com

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News

People & Culture

Gender & Diversity

Women face mental and physical rigours of dealing with death on a daily basis, say it gives them a better understanding of life


Women face mental and physical rigours of dealing with death on a daily basis, say it gives them a better understanding of life.


Gender

Women and gender

‘Fire Roses’: China only all-female cremation team challenges stereotypes, reshapes mortality views

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Women face mental and physical rigours of dealing with death on a daily basis, say it gives them a better understanding of life

Women face mental and physical rigours of dealing with death on a daily basis, say it gives them a better understanding of life