Society

Man mourns wife with large billboard

By Zhang Jiawei (chinadaily.com.cn)
Updated: 2011-03-31 13:26

A man, surnamed Deng, set up a large advertisement-like billboard near a highway in Chengdu, capital of Southwest China's Sichuan province, on Sunday accusing a hospital of being responsible for the death of his wife in what seems to be his way of grieving.

The billboard set up by Deng is seen over a highway in Chengdu, Southwest China's Sichuan province. [Photo/Yangcheng Evening News]

The billboard was there for some eight hours before it was taken down by local authorities about 10:00 pm March 27, more than a month after the man's wife died while giving birth to a baby boy at a hospital in Chengdu, Shandong Business News reported Wednesday.

The board has a picture of a woman in a wedding dress and Chinese characters explaining that the aim is to mourn his "beloved wife Gao Dezhen during Qingming Festival" and the time and name of the hospital --West China Second University Hospital -- where she died.

A staff member from the hospital said it was a doctor-patient dispute that has been assigned to staffers to resolve.

The billboard cost 150,000 yuan ($22,880), the paper said.

Qingming Festival, or Tomb-sweeping Day, a time for paying respects to ancestors and deceased family members, falls on April 5 this year.