Yasin has had more fortunate neighbors who had been able to identify the grave of their families and relocated them from such dirt mounds to new cemeteries with tombstones on them。

买合木提是示亚克瑞克村的村干部，他向CGTN记者介绍道，这片新生态公墓，是农民们自己帮忙建的，成本费只有1，000元。

他把父母的坟墓搬到这里以后，一切都变得更方便了。他现在每周都会来一次，给花浇水，打扫卫生。

地方政府表示，新墓地至少可以满足未来20年村民丧葬的需求。

“Some of the families that didn‘t have money when a member passed away wouldn’t be able to spend up to 3，000 yuan to hire someone to dig a grave， but now farmers are able to accept paying 1，000 yuan to buy one in the new cemetery，” observed Mexmut Nur， who‘s in charge of the funeral industry in Yakruyk。

When asked what he thought of Western claims that “China has destroyed more than 100 Uygur Muslim graveyards，” Halmurat responded： “What‘s wrong with moving the graves （of your families） to a new location that’s better？ The parents of others can be buried in green fields （environmentally-friendly cemeteries）， so why should we have to bury ours in the desert？”

Muslims in different places have different sacrificial rites and funerary inscriptions， except for ground burials and the exclusion of women in the process。 “In Middle Eastern Islamic culture， a grave can be used for any purpose after 30 years，” said Zheng Liang， a research fellow on Xinjiang studies at Jinan University。

There are currently 821 cemeteries in Aksu Prefecture， the majority of which were built near old cemeteries， and can satisfy the demand for the next 20 years。 On top of that， the old， empty ones have not been destroyed， but just turned into farmland for villagers to subsist on or to earn some money from。 The graves that can‘t be identified are maintained so that their families can still visit them from afar。

岁月如梭，韶光易逝。重回首，去时年，揽尽风雨苦亦甜。

把父母安葬在环境好的地方，是村民们作为子女，能尽的最大孝心。

相关报道: