导读:“苏州墓地限购”的消息最近引发关注。消息称，非苏州本地户籍，不能在苏州购买墓地。
As people gathered to sweep tombs on Tomb-sweeping Day, some may find it hard to get one.
清明期间人们都出行扫墓，一些人却发现很难买到一块墓地。
Suzhou city in eastern China’s Jiangsu province has banned the sale of tombs to people without a local hukou (household registration), unless there are "particular reasons."
中国东部江苏省苏州市禁止将墓地卖给没有本地户口的人，除非有“特殊理由”。
"Those who are not Suzhou citizens should get approval from the civil affairs authorities before they can buy a tomb here," said Zhang Jihong, vice head of the civil affairs bureau of Suzhou.
苏州市民政局副局长张继红表示，“那些非苏州市民要想来买墓地，必须先要经民政部门批准”。
Due to an aging society and urbanization, some cemeteries are already full. Many of the tombs do not belong to Suzhou citizens. The civil affairs bureau estimates that more than 6 million people will go to Suzhou to sweep tombs for their deceased relatives.
由于社会老龄化以及城市化，一些墓园已经满了。不过很多墓地都不是苏州市民的。据民政局估计，600多万人会去苏州为已故的亲人扫墓。
Many of the visitors are from Shanghai where the price of a tomb is almost double that in Suzhou. Also, there were no public cemeteries in Shanghai more than 30 years ago, so many chose Suzhou instead.
其中许多人都来自上海，那里的墓地价格几乎是苏州的两倍左右。并且上海在30多年前就没有公墓了，所以许多人选择了苏州。
The policy was widely discussed online.
这个限购政策在网上引起了热议。
"After the house purchase restrictions for the living, officials are turning their eyes to the dead," said Youming on Sina Weibo.
网友Youming在新浪微博上说，“这活人买房要限购，现在政府又把目光瞄向了去世的人。”
"People can not only speculate on houses but also on tombs," said netizen Xingzhiyin.
网友Xingzhiyin说，“人们不仅能投资房子，还能投资墓地啊！”
Zhang hopes that public can understand the policy well. Suzhou had a similar policy in 2004, but it was not well implemented. Now that there are few spaces left in the cemeteries, the policy has been reiterated.
张继红希望人们能理解这项政策。其实早在2004年苏州就出台类似的政策了，只是一直没有很好的执行。现在墓地越来越少，这项政策必须重申。
"But we are not keeping all the non-locals outside," Zhang added. "For instance, those whose spouses are buried in Suzhou can still use the same grave after they die."
他补充说，“不过我们并非禁止所有外地户口人购买。比如，夫妻中一方已安葬在苏州公墓的，另一方去世后还是可以办理合葬。”
The civil affairs authorities are also considering the demands of young people who have obtained a Suzhou hukou and need tombs for their non-Suzhou parents.
另外，针对已获得本市户口的新苏州人群体，其非苏州户籍父母能否在苏州购买墓地，民政部门也在考量中。
