ASIA LETTER: Ms Chen Xiuqin walked anxiously among the rows and rows of graves looking for her husband. Clutching a bunch of fresh flowers, it took the 65-year-old widow an hour to find his tomb.
The Yongjiu cemetery in Huailai County in north Beijing where Ms Chen's husband's ashes are buried had changed from her last visit a year ago.
Hundreds of new graves had been added, making it difficult to find her family plot.
Ms Chen was not alone this weekend in remembering the dead. Millions all over China visited graveyards to mark the Qingming Festival or Pure Brightness Day.
Qingming, which always falls around April 5th, is the traditional Chinese day of remembrance. But it is also a day to celebrate the coming of spring.
It is around now that farmers in the north of China start to plant wheat while their southern counterparts prepare the ground for rice.Qingming dates back to the Tang Dynasty around 700 AD when Emperor Xuanzong declared that respects should be formally paid at the tombs of ancestors only on this special day. The tradition continues as strong as ever.
Last week cemeteries all over the country were busy with families cleaning their plots, removing weeds and sweeping dirt away in preparation for Qingming.
Beijing's subway was crowded as people flocked to the city's most famous cemetery and crematorium, Babaoshan, to pay respects to their departed ones.
Ms Chen is typical of many Chinese who prefer to bury their dead. Only one third of Chinese people are cremated, but the majority of the ashes are still buried in graves.
"If I spread my husband's ashes into the soil or sea I would be sad because I would feel as though he has left home forever," says Ms Chen. "I feel a relief to be able to come here to my husband's tomb-stone for this special day each year. He feels nearer to me."
However, the time is fast approaching when people like Ms Chen won't have the choice to bury their dead or keep the ashes of dead relatives in city graves.
Beijing's 28 cemeteries are fast filling up and it is predicted that in 50 years time they will be full.
There is a huge shortage of land in the city and no room for graveyard expansion.
The government has already forbidden the opening of new cemeteries and has put a ban on adding to existing ones.
"Unless there are changes the graves in the cemeteries will be packed like sardines," according to Mr Wang Yeyong, who works at Babaoshan cemetery in west Beijing.
In 1994 the authorities launched a campaign to encourage people to cremate their dead relatives and spread their ashes rather than bury them.
But the appeal fell on deaf ears with the majority of families still opting to bury their dear departed.
The ashes of only 4,000 people have been sprinkled in Beijing in the last eight years.
China has a huge ageing population and pressure on graveyard space is going to grow.
The number of people in Beijing aged 65 and over is around 1.15 million, accounting for 8 per cent of the population.
Every year there are around 70,000 deaths in the capital, and the ashes of nearly half are buried in the city's overcrowded cemeteries.
"If we continue with burials there will be a big clash between using land for the living or the dead.
"We need to change practices to save land and to protect the environment," said Mr Wang.
The graveyard overcrowding problem is not confined to Beijing. Statistics show that 7.2 million Chinese people die each year, and some 5 million are still buried. It is estimated that over 3,300 hectares of land are used annually in China for burials, while 3 million cubic metres of timber are used to make coffins.
One solution to the problem could be tree burials which have become popular in other major cities such as Shenyang and Guangzhou.
This involves planting a tree where ashes of a dead person have been scattered to protect the environment.
In Shenyang, in north east China, tree burials now account for 50 per cent of funerals every year, with more than 50,000 such burials in the city since the early 1990s.
Back in Beijing a shortage of land is not the only problem facing relatives of the dead. The high cost of funerals and interment is causing concern.
At present the cheapest grave costs around €273 while the average grave costs €569, more than the annual wage in China. A decorated tombstone made from quality marble can cost thousands more.
Competition between undertakers is acute with a "price war" currently under way with companies from Hebei province north of Beijing operating illegally in the city.
The Communist Party is trying to discourage big funerals as a waste of money. In some parts of China extravagant funerals are banned.
However, for widow Ms Chen, Qingming is a special day and she wouldn't change having buried her husband and invested in a grand tombstone.
"This will be here for hundreds of years. It will help me, my children, my children's children and all other generations to remember my husband," she said.