VIDEO: Strippers at funerals a matter of grave concern to Chinese

Interesting news out of China, a country ruled by a political party with no sense of humour -- none whatever. According to AFP, Communist Chinese authorities today bared the details of their latest battle against vice. Specifically, they intend to stamp out the hiring strippers to entertain at funerals.

In a statement posted on its website, China's Ministry of Culture pledged a "crackdown" [Don't go for any more cheap puns. Ed.] on the practice, which it said has become increasingly common in rural areas. "From time to time, 'stripteases' and other illegal performances have occurred in the countryside," the statement said, adding that authorities will "promptly investigate and punish" businesses and individuals involved in the risque shows.

China's official Xinhua news agency said such performances are typically organized in order to draw a larger crowd at last rites. One example cited by the Ministry of Culture was a funeral in north China's Hebei province. "Two strippers wearing revealing clothes danced on a stage at a public square in our village at night on February 15," an eyewitness told the state-run Global Times newspaper earlier this month.

"They first danced passionately and then took off their clothes piece by piece," the man said. "Behind them, an electronic screen was displaying a picture of the deceased with elegiac couplets on either side." And yes, we do have a picture, scraped off Weibo, the popular Chinese microblog site.

In another case later that month, a troupe in east China's Jiangsu province was detained for funeral performances that drew crowds of as many as 500 local residents. The troupe engaged in "erotic performances on the stage with sexual organs exposed and imitating sexual acts," police officer Tang Jinyang told xichu.net, a provincial news site.

According to China's Ministry of Culture, such shows "disrupt the order of the rural cultural market and corrupt the social atmosphere." Yeah, right... The hundreds of spectators who turn out must be shocked, shocked!

Walt's Chinese agents say the Party has an uphill battle to put an end to traditions which have been observed for centuries, if not millennia. Processions and entertainment have always been a part of Chinese celebrations, they say, no matter whether it's a wedding or a funeral.

The point is made in the video below, posted on the National Geographic website in 2012. This mini-documentary shows a funeral procession in Taiwan, which some say isn't part of China. But the participants look Chinese to me, and appear to be having a pretty good time too. What a way to go out!