Cremation in Hong Kong: where can the ashes go?

Two things first

First: we are a joss paper shop. We do not arrange funerals, cremations or anything to do with ashes. This page only gathers what government pages say, with a link and the date we checked each one.

Government pages change. When you actually make arrangements, go by FEHD’s latest version, or phone their offices.

Second: every route below is an option the government itself lists. None of them is the more “filial” choice. Nobody arranges these things often, so not knowing how is completely normal.

How is a cremation arranged in Hong Kong?

In Hong Kong, public crematoria, cemeteries and columbaria are run by the FEHD (Food and Environmental Hygiene Department). These are the steps set out on the government’s After-death Arrangements website and FEHD’s online booking page (Chinese), both checked 26 September 2026. We have not added anything:

1. Get the documents ready. FEHD lists documents to be verified, including the death registration certificate and the cremation permit.
2. Book a cremation slot. In the government’s words: “One may book in person or authorise a licensed undertaker of burials to book on his/her behalf a cremation session” at the “6 crematoria under the FEHD”. A licensed undertaker is what many countries would call a funeral director.
3. Hand in the documents, pay, and book. You can book on the spot, or receive an authentication code for booking online. FEHD says the code is valid for 60 days, and the online system offers unbooked slots within 15 days from the day after you apply.
4. On the booked date, bring the documents to the crematorium.
5. Collect the ashes afterwards. The government site says: “Storage of ashes is free of charge for 60 days from the date of cremation.”

FEHD’s booking page also carries a notice that Kwai Chung Crematorium suspended service from 14 August 2024; the same page says the renovation works are “expected” to be completed by the end of 2027. That is an expected date, not a confirmed one. Check which crematoria are open before booking.

What about the farewell ceremony before the cremation: Buddhist chanting, a church service, or simply a quiet goodbye? The government pages we read do not prescribe one. Every religion and every family does it differently. It is the family’s own decision, and an undertaker can talk it through with you.

What does FEHD charge?

Only figures from FEHD’s List of Charges for Cemeteries and Crematoria Services and related official pages (checked 26 September 2026).

The fee page shows no effective date, and says nothing about different rates for different kinds of applicant. Please check the page again before relying on it. Private columbaria and undertakers set their own prices; those are not on this list, and we do not quote them.

On temporary storage fees, question 10 of the government FAQ adds: “The fee is subject to adjustment from time to time and the applicant should pay the prevailing prescribed fee on the day of payment.”

Where can the ashes go?

FEHD’s page on ways of handling ashes and the government’s page on disposal of cremated ashes list the routes below (checked 26 September 2026). Here they are as one picture:

A public columbarium niche

A columbarium (靈灰安置所) is a building of small wall compartments called niches (龕位), each holding an urn behind a plaque. For a family that uses one, the niche is where they go at Qingming and Chung Yeung, much as another family goes to a grave.

The government site says “the initial interment period for an allocated public niche is 20 years, which upon expiry may be extended for 10 years each time”.

According to an FEHD press release of 31 July 2026, public niches have been allocated monthly since 1 August 2026: “over 1,600 extendable public niches” a month, at Tsang Tsui (Tuen Mun), Wo Hop Shek Phase VI (Fanling), Cape Collinson-San Ha (Chai Wan) and Shek Mun (Sha Tin).

The order is decided on the 20th of each month “(or the next working day if it falls on a Saturday or public holiday)” by “a drawing of lots and computer balloting”, for eligible applications received the month before.

FEHD’s page on other methods adds that the public may apply to place additional sets of ashes in niches already allocated by FEHD or the Board of Management of the Chinese Permanent Cemeteries.

An urn grave in a public cemetery

An urn grave (金塔墓穴, literally a “golden pagoda” grave, after the urn) is a grave for urns of bones or ashes. The government’s page on disposal of cremated ashes lists adding ashes to one in a public cemetery: “Each urn grave can accommodate the skeletal remains or ashes of no more than three deceased persons.”

The applicant must be the permit holder of the urn grave, and the person whose ashes are added must be a close relative of, or in a close relationship with, the first person buried there. FEHD’s fee list shows HK$6,305 for “urn grave (burial of skeletal remains) or placing an additional set of skeletal remains / ashes” (checked 26 September 2026; no effective date shown); ask the Cemeteries and Crematoria Office.

A private columbarium

FEHD lists “depositing the ashes in a niche of a columbarium in a private cemetery” as an option. Private columbaria set their own prices, which are not on the official list, so we do not quote them. Ask the columbarium directly.

Scattering in a Garden of Remembrance

A Garden of Remembrance is a garden where ashes are scattered instead of being kept in an urn; FEHD’s are inside its columbaria. FEHD’s scattering page refers to “14 Gardens of Remembrance in 10 public columbaria managed by the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department”, and says approved applicants may scatter there “free of charge”.

You apply in advance, as the holder of the permit to take away the ashes or someone they have authorised in writing. How far ahead? Two official pages give different figures, and they describe different steps.

FEHD’s scattering page says the application must be submitted in person at least 14 days before the proposed scattering date. Separately, question 7 of the government FAQ says that where only scattering in a Garden of Remembrance is involved, you can contact the office as little as three days ahead to book the works.

Because the two refer to different steps, go by what the Cemeteries and Crematoria Office tells you.

Scattering at sea

FEHD’s page on scattering in Hong Kong waters names three designated areas: East of Tap Mun, East of Tung Lung Chau, and South of West Lamma Channel. “FEHD does not charge any fee for processing of the application.”

Families can use FEHD’s free ferry service, or apply to scatter the ashes in the designated waters themselves.

Keeping the ashes at home

FEHD: “Members of the public may keep no more than 10 containers of ashes in domestic premises and each container should contain the ashes of no more than one person.” The government FAQ (question 9) puts it as “not more than 10 sets”.

If the family has not decided yet, bringing the ashes home for a while is fine. It is one of the listed routes in its own right, not a sign that something has been left undone.

Temporary storage

FEHD offers temporary storage, and notes that the facility does not provide for worship or memorial rites. The government site describes storage periods of 3, 6 or 12 months, extendable, “at a monthly charge of HK$80”.

The same site mentions other options, such as undertakers turning ashes into crystals, and taking the ashes out of Hong Kong, which is the next section.

Bringing ashes to Hong Kong from abroad (and the other way)

For the Hong Kong end, the answer is short. From the government FAQ, question 15:

FEHD’s Notes on Import and Export of Human Remains say the same.

That sentence covers Hong Kong only. The country the ashes leave from, the airline, and any transit stop may each have rules of their own. We cannot answer those and will not guess. Please ask a funeral director where you are, the airline, or the local authorities.

The other way: cremated in Hong Kong, taken abroad

The same FEHD page says some countries may ask for a “Certificate of Cremation” and an “Authorisation to Remove Cremated Ashes”. The application forms are FEHB143 and FEHB148, and the page states these apply where the cremation took place at an FEHD crematorium.

What the destination country requires is a question for its consulate or authorities.

No grave: what about Qingming and Chung Yeung?

Qingming (spring) and Chung Yeung (autumn) are the two main festivals when Chinese families traditionally visit their ancestors’ graves, sweep them and make offerings. So once the ashes have been scattered, kept at home, or are in another country, the question comes naturally: where do we go?

It is a fair question. Having no headstone does not mean having nowhere to put your thoughts.

• At home. No ancestral tablet or censer needed: see Ancestor worship at home, without an altar.
• Online. FEHD runs a free Internet Memorial Service, where family and friends can write the person’s life story and upload photos and videos. It covers, among others, people cremated at public crematoria and ashes scattered in FEHD Gardens of Remembrance or designated waters (see the site for the full conditions).
• From wherever you are. We wrote a separate piece on this: Tomb sweeping when you cannot visit the grave.

Families do this differently. Doing what you can, with care, is already the remembering.