A family sedan for 15 yuan ($1.94). A single house for 50 ($6.46). All kinds of upscale electronic appliances for just a little money.

What's going on? Are we transported by a time machine to an era when everything was affordable or is it deflation running amok?

Neither. These goods are not for those who inhabit this world, but for those who have departed into the next. They are invariably much smaller in scale and made of paper.

Qingming Festival, or literally Clear and Bright Festival, which is today, is a day for tending to the graves of the ancestors; and generates a huge demand for paper-made offerings.

The most common are ceremonial money, both paper notes and coins, that the deceased can supposedly use in the nether world. In the past, daily articles such as bicycles, watches and sewing machines, in replica of course, were also offered.

But economic rejuvenation has made a difference even to the afterlife. Almost every luxury item has been remade into a cardboard version, including gold bars, cellphones, and notebook computers.

On Daxing Road East in Haikou, South China's Hainan Province, a 150-meter street is lined up with scores of shops that sell an endless array of sacrificial offerings. The most popular is the single house, which the Chinese call "villa" since most of us live in apartment units. An elaborately fabricated model is 80cm by 60cm, three stories high, and complete with a gym, a swimming pool and a home entertainment center.

Most cities have a commercial hub that specializes in such merchandise. Some go for the high-end market. In Tianjin, a mock Mercedes goes for 4,000 yuan ($520) while an imitation house, as big as a gazebo, goes for 30,000 yuan ($3,900). However, a random survey reveals that most buyers spend 50-500 yuan to improve the living conditions of their dead relatives.

Many buyers are also caught by surprise by the breadth of the product line. In addition to being guaranteed a high life, the ancestors can also travel in style, with faux driver's licenses, credit cards, traveler's checks, passports and visas, and even helicopters.

Not everyone is into luxury, though. Some say it is wiser to treat your elders better when they are alive than splurge on such ceremonial stuff that will be burned in this world. Others feel they are ripped off by the retailers because, as one investigation found out, an automobile skyrockets from 1.5 yuan (19 cents) in wholesale to 50 yuan in retail.

By far the most controversial offering is the female figurine, often stylishly decked and endowed like a supermodel. She either comes with the house or can be purchased separately.

Vendors insist you can interpret her any way you want housemaid, concubine, the courtesan, the party girl. To complement her, ersatz Viagra and condoms are available.

Most people interviewed respond that this is in "very bad taste" and "offensive" to the departed. Qingming is a solemn occasion, they emphasize, it is for remembrance, not for material showoff, superstition or vulgarity.