Paper iPhones popular offerings to deceased Sacrificial offerings paper iPhones are sold at an online store on March 29, 2012. [Photo/Asia...

Paper iPhones popular offerings to deceased

Sacrificial offerings paper iPhones are sold at an online store on March 29, 2012. [Photo/Asianewsphoto]

BEIJING, March 28 (Xinhuanet) -- As iPhones and iPads are getting more popular in China, some people are choosing paper-made Apple goods as offerings to their deceased relatives, the Beijing Morning Post reported Tuesday.

Many shops on Taobao, a major Chinese website for online shopping, sell paper digital devices, including iPhone4 and iPad2, as the Qingming Festival, or Tomb-Sweeping Day, approaches, the newspaper said.

On sale are not only the paper-made devices themselves but also a full range of accessories such as chargers, earphones and data lines. The prices vary and can reach several hundred yuan.

"We hope the deceased can also feel the progress of our society," said a customer who did not give his name.

However, folklore experts didn't seem to show much interest in paper-made Apple devices.

"Traditional ways of observance like burning joss paper pollute the environment and may also cause a fire. Instead we suggest people buy flowers or turn to an online memorial website to honor their loved ones," Han Shuo, director of Beijing Folklore Society, said when asked to comment on the new trend.

Many Chinese families visit cemeteries to mourn the death of their beloved ones and ancestors on Qingming Festival, which falls on April 4 this year.

(Source: China Daily)