Work experience

At a cemetery in Changsha, Hunan province, which is swarming with people, Yang Xue and more than 10 volunteers have been helping visitors and directing traffic.

"We will be working here for 10 days," said the first-year student with the funeral institute of Changsha Social Work College. "Professionally, I feel an attachment to the festival."

The institute, founded in 1995, was the first of its kind in China. Study subjects range from funeral oration and management to embalming.

A few years ago, students were reluctant to talk about their majors, but the situation is changing.

"With the development of society, humanism is increasingly important to customers, and old funeral workers are already outdated," said Su Lihui, a teacher with the institute. "Therefore, our graduates are in demand."

Su said there were more than 900 jobs last year offered to about 200 graduates.

"I had worries before, but the more I learn, the more I feel that taking care of people when they have completed their journey in life is a respectable profession," said another student who transferred to the funeral institute from a business school.