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Chinese Cemetery in Manila.
Founded in the mid 1850's by Lim Ong and Tan Quien Sien (Don Carlos Palanca) to accommodate the many Chinese, who were not allowed to be buried in Spanish cemeteries.
The cemetery covering 54 hectares has streets lined with mausoleums that are richly adorned with marble and wrought iron, some with strained glass windows. There are paved streets and large mausoleums with running water and electricity. The burial sites range from mansions to niches in walls according to your wealth. A crematorium is located here. It is the custom to return ashes to Mainland China after death. Prices are from 25.000 Pesos for a small niche to 40.000.000 Pesos for the impressive 600 sqm. mausoleum built to remember/honour a cigarette fabricant, (to compare this, a teachers salary is about 10.000 Pesos a month in July 2001).
Looking inside this tomb, you see the coffin of a Chinese man and his two views. The floor is made by marble, and the coffin is pure granite. Looking to the right, you can see the door to the toilet, where there is running hot and cold water. If you put your hand close to the letter slot, you can feel the cold air from the air conditioner slipping out.
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