Qingming Festival: Body donors commemorated in northern China

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Qingming Festival is just a few days away and many people across China are paying tribute to their deceased loved ones. Memorial ceremonies are also being held to commemorate those who've made special contributions. This includes memorials for those who donated their whole bodies towards medical research. Our reporter Hu Chao has the story.

April 1st marks the seventh Memorial Day of Body Donors in Taiyuan, the capital of northern China's Shanxi Province. More than 300 locals gathered in a public cemetery and placed flowers before a monument for body donors. The monument was built seven years ago, and has become a place for family members of body donors to mourn their loved ones.

HAO DONGMEI WIFE OF BODY DONOR "My husband died last year and donated his body. It's my first time to be here. I feel deeply moved. I used to disagree with his decision but now I understand it and I feel so proud of him."

LEI AIPING DAUGHTER OF BODY DONOR "My father was a faithful member of the Communist Party of China. He made the decision after he learned about the shortage of body donations. We believe it was a great decision and we feel proud of him."

Many medical students and teachers also attended the event.

GAO HONGYI PRINCIPAL, TAIYUAN HEALTH SCHOOL "Body donations play a vital role in teaching and learning in medical schools. We feel so grateful for these body donors. We also hope to see more donor registrations."

So far Taiyuan has 800 registered body donors, and 137 of them have died and donated their bodies for medical research. Local authorities say the number of donors has increased gradually over the years.

TIAN ZHAOQU FORMER SECRETARY GENERAL, TAIYUAN RED CROSS SOCIETY "Medical research needs sufficient human bodies and medical progress wouldn't be achieved without human anatomy. We're happy to see that more and more people have learnt about body donation and made registrations."

HU CHAO TAIYUAN, SHANXI PROVINCE China has much fewer body donors than organ donors. These memorial activities aren't just aimed at acknowledging their contributions to medical research, but are also an appeal to the public for more. Hu Chao, CGTN, Taiyuan, Shanxi Province.