China is ordering an end to the practice of employing strippers to attract crowds at funerals, the state news service has reported. Local tradition suggests bigger attendances at send-offs bring good fortune to the spirits of the dead.
But complaints after state television exposed the practice at a funeral in Donghai county, Jiangsu province, have forced the authorities to act, according to Xinhua news agency.
Watched by a crowd of 200 mourners including children, two strippers engaged by the family of a dead farmer gave what the local media described as an "obscene performance." Five people were subsequently arrested as the government demanded an end to the practice across the country.
A telephone hotline has been established to gather reports of any further funeral misbehaviour.