Deep-rooted traditional beliefs and lack of regulations lie behind the surging prices of burial plots in Beijing, experts said.

The increase is forcing some residents to buy graveyards in neighboring provinces.

"Most people in China still prefer larger graveyards, which have become a rare commodity in crowded cities such as Beijing," Bao Yuan, director of the Huanqiu Funeral Institute, said on Wednesday.

"This has caused a surge in prices of funeral plots in big cities."

Some Beijing residents have complained that they cannot "afford to die in Beijing".

The cheapest plot in Tonghui Cemetery in the suburban Tongzhou district of Beijing costs 32,800 yuan ($5,200) and is less than three-quarters of a square meter, a sales woman told China Daily.

However, a square-meter plot in Gaojingyuan Cemetery in Baoding, a city neighboring Beijing, is no more than 10,000 yuan, according to Feng Yi, a manager of the cemetery.

"In recent years I have seen more people from Beijing buy plots in our cemetery, but most of them are those who have roots in Baoding," said Feng.

Bao said irrational consumption and vanity are playing a major role behind the surging price of funeral plots in big cities in China.

Residents from Beijing visit a graveyard in neighboring Hebei province on March 30. Because of the surging price of funeral plots in Beijing, many Beijing residents have begun to buy them in neighboring provinces. [Li Wen / Xinhua]