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City Advocates to Use Trees For Burials TAIYUAN, April 14 (Xinhua) -- This capital of north China's Shanxi Province has decided to promote an environment-friendly form of burial: bone ash to be buried under a tree. The city will encourage people to use "tree burials" in its eight public cemeteries, sources said. The Longshan Graveyard, one of the cemeteries, has opened a 33 ha. tree burial area, where specially-assigned workers will plant trees and assure they grow well. Each person is required to pay 2000 yuan (241 US dollars) for each tree burial and a simple funeral is allowed on the site. "Tree burials can reduce the use of farmland and also increase green areas," a local civil affairs official said. Taiyuan has seen 29 tree burials since 1995. In April 1999, 22 elderly people signed a written proposal calling for wide acceptance of tree burials, which received positive response from across the province.