Tombstones ordered to be painted green

KUNMING - Residents in Yiliang county of Southwest China's Yunnan province had to paint their deceased relatives' tombstones green because local officials believed the white markers were desecrating the mountain, local media reported on Thursday.

The 19-km highway linking the Yiliang county seat and the Goujie town is surrounded by mountains on both sides. These mountains are dotted with white tombstones marking the graves of the residents' ancestors.

Local residents said the village governance ordered them to paint the tombstones green or black so the mountains could have a more unified color.

The residents were told if the tombs were not painted, they would be destroyed with explosives, according to local media reports.

"Green tombstones are the weirdest things I've ever heard of," a 60-year-old villager was quoted as saying. "The gravestones are meant to allow later generations to look and pay respect. Why do they have to be green?"

But he finally painted his father's tombstone green, because he "did not want it blasted", the report said. The green painting blurred the writings on the monument, he said.

Another villager told the Kunming-based Chuncheng Evening News that about 10 days ago, the loudspeaker in their village said every household should paint their ancestors' tombs green, or cover the white gravestones with green cloth. Those tombstones that stayed white would be blown up.

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