Picture of Lane with graves for the poor (Manila, Philippines)

Maintenance on one of the lanes of graves for the poor

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A true city of the dead, the Chinese Cemetery is an amazing area where the dead are venerated in houses instead of graves, and where the family still comes by regularly for more than just laying fresh flowers.
Although the tomb houses of the Chinese cemetery have front doors that are locked, you can peek inside. Normally, the ground floor contains the grave of the deceased, and behind, you can see the bathroom and the kitchen. Stairs lead upstairs to where relatives can sleep. There even is a mailbox in many houses for those who wish to share something about the dead with the family. On Sundays, and notably on All Saints Day, many Chinese come to their dead here, prepare lunch, have a drink, and play mahjong, always with one empty chair for the departed. Furthermore, I saw a temple in which Buddha and Jesus are present side by side. The cemetery was the site of heavy fighting and executions during World War II, and there are several memorials, as well as a mass grave, to commemorate those events. The Chinese here bury their babies separately from the family graves, and the wall where babies are buried makes for a sad read. There are alleys with rental tomb space, there are tomb houses with trees growing straight through the roof, there are old tombs with stone turtles - symbol of longevity. I even saw several tombs where the man and wife were already buried - but where a third space was still open, reserved for the lover of the man. Every tomb is unique, every tomb has its story to tell, and you can easily spend a lot of time exploring this fascinating Chinese cemetery.
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