An urban legend: Why aren’t there any Chinese tombs in Hungary?

There’s an urban legend, that because Chinese people look so similar, when one of them dies, it’s not reported to the authorities, but the deceased person’s relatives immigrate to the country under his name and identity.

This legend was debunked by urbanlegends.hu who asked Gergely Salát, senior lecturer at the Department of Chinese Studies, ELTE University, about where the Chinese people living in Hungary disappear.

According to Salát, the Chinese community is relatively young in Hungary, which means that the mortality rate is quite low. When the communist era ended in Hungary in 1989, mainly young, adventurous people immigrated to the country who were in their 20s and 30s, as Chinese people were not economic migrants, but were simply seeking new adventures. Those who came to Hungary more than twenty years ago are in their 40s and 50s now, apart from a few exceptions. It’s not only Chinese tombs that are missing from Hungary, but one cannot find sick and old Chinese people either.

If a Chinese person has a serious condition, they return home because they trust the Chinese medicines more than the Hungarian healthcare system. According to their customs, if someone is terminally ill they return home to be near their loved ones when they die. But if they die in Hungary (in a car accident for example) then their ashes are taken home, as it is a belief in Chinese culture that everyone wants to be buried in their homeland and it’s the family’s duty to make it happen. If they fail bury to the deceased person according to traditional Chinese customs, they may be haunted by the spirits.

Hungary has become a less desirable country about ten years ago: the market is small and loaded, the economy is stagnating, and the authorities are unfriendly. For a talented Chinese businessman the rapidly developing Chinese cities offer more opportunities, therefore the number of Chinese immigrants in Hungary has been stagnating for years.