SHANGHAI: Death has a curious way of cropping up in the numbers around Wei Binjie.He was born on Apr 4, 2008, as families across China tended the graves of their ancestors for Qing Ming. This year, he scored 444 points in the gaokao, the national college entrance examination.In Chinese, four and death share the sound "si", separated only by a tone. The digit is widely regarded as unlucky - dropped from some buildings' floor counts and shunned in phone numbers. So when the 18-year-old from Henan put funeral studies at the top of his university wishlist, the coincidences made him an internet sensation - propelling him onto the hot search list of microblogging platform Weibo and into Chinese media headlines.
“Personally, I think it's just a coincidence,” Wei told CNA. “Whatever score I'd get in the gaokao, whichever date my birthday fell on, I was always going to apply for this major.”Next month, he starts at Sanmenxia College of Social Administration - his fourth choice - despite opposition from his family, who hopes he will switch majors. "But I definitely won't," he said.And he is far from alone.Funeral studies are drawing growing interest from young Chinese betting on strong job prospects in a sector facing a labour crunch, as a rapidly ageing population puts the country on course for rising deaths in the decades to come.But they are entering an industry in flux.New regulations that took effect in March are redrawing where profits can be made, while a new generation of deathcare businesses is challenging traditional ideas of what a Chinese funeral should look like - and the skills needed to deliver one.For young people like Wei, that means the promise of a job caring for China's dead may be strong - but the “iron rice bowl” of secure and stable employment many expect to find is far less certain.
