Paper iPads hot sellers as Chinese honour dead

Death is no barrier to Chinese ancestors receiving the latest gadgets, with paper iPads, laptops and LCD TVs burned at gravesides across Asia to mark the Qing Ming festival this week. Paper money, clothes, luxury cars and handbags have long been standard items for the Chinese festival, also known as grave-sweeping day, when replica offerings are burnt for the dead to use in the afterlife.

The latest tech hardware joined the list of items which went up in smoke this year, with many shops selling the paper offerings saying they could not meet demand for replica iPads. “These are the bestsellers this year,” said Chan, a shop owner in Hong Kong’s busy Causeway Bay district, pointing at the black iPads that go for HK$25 each.

“They are the latest technology. Old and young customers love them because they are the newest models,” said Chan, whose shop sells a range of paper offerings, including 42-inch LCD TVs for HK$60. Another shop owner said high-tech items including iPads, iPhones, laptops and LCD TVs were sold out despite placing additional orders for the paper products.