$1,100 for your pet's funeral? Only in China

Spend over $1,000 for your pet’s funeral? It sounds like something that would happen in Paris or Geneva or New York City.

It is happening all over China, a country which increasingly has the power to surprise.

According to a Hong Kong newspaper Monday, there are people making bookings for the $1,100 (6,800 yuan) funerals for pets throughout the Middle Kingdom.

The package comes with more than just a funeral service. The pets have their own burial grounds as well as epithets.

During the recent extended weekend April 5-7, pet burial grounds in Pingchang and Daxing, both located near the Chinese capital of Beijing, were packed with people conducting burial services for the “ones” they loved.

One elderly lady was quoted as saying that she was putting to rest a dog that she has been keeping for over 14 years.

The epithet read, “May you be happy in heaven,” and was pasted with photos of the deceased. The funeral service was accompanied by a bountiful of the foodstuff the dog enjoyed while it was alive.

The newspaper said just 10 years ago, pets were cremated after they died but people are now not hesitant about spending a considerable amount of money for proper burials.

In addition, the pet owners are not reluctant to spend up to $150 (1,000 yuan) per year for maintaining the burial grounds.