Deceived and Defiant: Thousands of Chinese Villagers Rise Up Against Secret Crematorium Plan

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Residents in southern China's Guangdong Province are fighting back after local authorities disguised a crematorium project as road construction — and deployed riot police to silence them.

What began as a routine government land acquisition notice has escalated into one of the most significant popular uprisings in southern China in recent years. Thousands of residents in Shuikou Town, part of Xinyi City in Guangdong Province, have taken to the streets repeatedly since mid-March 2026, demanding that authorities scrap plans to build a cremation facility they say was deliberately hidden from them.

The protests have been met with a heavy-handed response: riot police, mass arrests, road checkpoints, and an aggressive online censorship campaign. Yet despite the pressure, residents have refused to back down.

The Deception That Sparked It All

At the heart of the unrest is a simple but explosive allegation: the local government lied.

Authorities initially told residents that land was being acquired to build a road called "Liru Avenue." Construction began, foundations were laid — and it was only in mid-March that villagers realized the site was not for a road at all, but for a crematorium.

The location residents discovered makes the betrayal feel even more personal. The planned facility sits just 700 meters from the nearest village and approximately 600 meters from a local primary school. Residents also raised alarm about the proximity to local water sources — a concern that touches both public health and deeply held cultural beliefs about environmental purity and ancestral land.

The Xinyi City government had announced the project — named "Xinyi Yifuyuan" — stating a planned investment of 145 million yuan, describing the chosen location as being "500 meters away from any residents." Residents disputed this claim.

Three Days of Protests, Then Thousands More

From March 17 to 19, hundreds of villagers in Shuikou Town took to the streets for three consecutive days, clashing violently with police on two separate occasions.

Videos circulating on social media showed large groups of residents gathered in the streets holding banners. Authorities deployed large numbers of riot police, with footage showing officers clashing with villagers. Several residents were reportedly beaten, and some individuals were seen with head injuries amid the confrontations. According to multiple reports, authorities mobilized over a thousand police officers from surrounding counties to restore order.

One viral video captured a striking image of defiance: an elderly white-haired woman in a pink top, calmly picking up stones from the ground and throwing them at riot police shields, then retreating into the crowd — only to charge forward again. The clip spread widely online before being taken down by censors.

On March 25, despite ongoing police presence, an estimated 3,000 people returned to the streets. Residents reported that officers — some in plainclothes — made arrests regardless of whether individuals had participated in any confrontation. Community leaders were reportedly targeted first.

A City Under Quiet Lockdown

By March 24, the intersection leading to the crematorium construction site had a permanent police checkpoint inspecting all passing vehicles. Riot police units remained stationed in the villages. The main road in front of the Xinyi municipal government building continued to be blocked.

Residents reported extended power outages in some areas, and strong pressure on local workers and even students to sign forms indicating their support for the project.

Online, related content began disappearing rapidly. Users noted that videos vanished within hours of being posted, chat groups discussing the protests were shut down, and pro-government accounts flooded search results with unrelated content to bury mentions of "Guangdong Xinyi."

A Pattern the CCP Has Not Learned From

This is not the first time Guangdong communities have erupted over secret crematorium plans — and the outcome of earlier struggles offers a cautionary precedent.

In 2019, authorities in nearby Huazhou city shelved plans for a crematorium after days of violent clashes between riot police and protesters, who built street barricades and pelted police lines with projectiles. Tear gas and batons were deployed in response. The project was eventually cancelled altogether after sustained public pressure.

In that earlier case, local authorities who initially adopted a hardline approach reversed course within four days, announcing the project was scrapped, promising to release those arrested and provide medical compensation to the injured.

The residents of Shuikou have noted that the current crematorium project had reportedly been proposed at other locations before — and relocated each time it met with resistance. They fear they have simply become the next community on the list.

"When People Have No Voice, Fear Loses Its Power"

The events in Shuikou reflect a pattern that runs deep in Chinese civil society: communities discovering too late what is being built in their backyard, then fighting back with the only tools available to them — their bodies and their numbers.

Canada-based Chinese democracy advocate Sheng Xue, commenting on the situation, noted that placing a crematorium near residential areas affects property values, public health, and psychological wellbeing — and that using misleading information to push such projects through destroys the trust between government and governed.

She added that when people feel they have no legitimate way to protect their living conditions or be heard by authorities, the fear of punishment begins to matter less than the need to act.

As one observer put it: under authoritarian rule, such resistance may rarely prevail — but resistance is human nature. Where there is oppression, there will be opposition. The villagers of Xinyi may not change the fate of their town, but they have shown that even here, people are willing to defend their most basic dignity.

Sources:

• Vision Times – Mass Protests Erupt in Guangdong: https://www.visiontimes.com/2026/03/19/mass-protests-erupt-in-guangdong-as-residents-clash-with-police-over-crematorium-project.html
• Yesterday Protests (Chinese protest documentation network): https://yesterdayprotests.com/%E3%80%8A%E4%BF%A1%E5%AE%9C%E4%BA%8B%E4%BB%B6%E5%90%8E%E7%BB%AD%E3%80%8B%EF%BC%882026-03-25/
• People News Today – Guangdong Grandma Goes Viral: https://www.peoplenewstoday.com/news/en/2026/03/21/1135264.html.Brave!-Guangdong-Grandma-with-White-Hair-Takes-on-Riot-Police-and-Goes-Viral.html
• People News Today – Funeral Home Construction Across Mainland China: https://www.peoplenewstoday.com/news/en/2026/03/23/1135421.html
• Radio Free Asia – Riot Police Win Back Control of Protest Town (2019 precedent): https://www.rfa.org/english/news/china/crematorium-protest-12022019151453.html
• China Worker – A Significant Retreat in Maoming (2019 precedent): https://chinaworker.info/en/2019/12/11/22127/
• South China Morning Post – Protesters and Police Clash Over Crematorium: https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3040009/protesters-and-police-clash-southern-china-over-plans

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