Funerals and strippers — these two words you might have never imagined in the same sentence, let alone as a term, but turns out funeral stripping is a bizarre practice that exists in China.
Funeral strippers are a common trend in certain rural areas of China and as shocking and morbid as the idea might sound, the authorities have finally undertaken official attempts to put a stop on the bizarre practice.
The practice, even though performed as a mockery or parody of some sort, aiming to draw more mourners or show off the mourning family's wealth – is still considered illegal as it corrupts "social morals".
Last month, China's Ministry of Culture said that it was targeting "striptease" and other "obscene, pornographic, and vulgar performances" at funerals, weddings, and other traditional public gatherings, Global Times reported.
The authorities' first initiative to clamp down the X-rated practice started back in 2006. It kickstarted the second time in 2015. The current crackdown focuses majorly on 19 cities across the four Chinese provinces of Henan, Anhui, Jiangsu, and Hebei, according to a statement on the website of China's Ministry of Culture.
A special "hotline" has been made available for people to report such "funeral misdeeds". The authorities are also offering a financial reward for informing such happenings, the Chinese daily reported.
Three years ago, the ministry blacklisted people and workplaces that engage in such shows. It singled out a group of such burlesque dancers, known as the Red Rose Song and Dance Troupe.
The group had done a strip-tease performance at a small-town funeral of an elderly person in the northern province of Hebei in February 2015. According to the ministry, the group took off their clothes and performed a traditional song-and-dance routine, as reported by Mirror.co.uk.
After the authorities busted the group, one of the leaders of the Red Rose, who goes by the surname Li, got detained for 15 days and a levied a fine of 70,000 yuan ($11,300).
