Die, get cremated, then reborn in Shanghai's death simulator

A new, morbid death simulation attraction has opened in Shanghai, and promises to take visitors on a "rebirth" to gain a new perspective on life.

The museum, which calls itself Xinglai -- "awaken" in Chinese -- opened this week at the trendy Xintiandi district.

Local reports say the smallish venue has space for 12 participants each round, and received 40 bookings on the first day. Reservations are also filled out for the next two weeks.

The museum says guests will start with a round of games that will stimulate thought on life, before they go through a chamber that plays a projection of fire around you, to simulate being cremated.

At the end, the player is "reborn" through a latex chamber that's intended to signify birth.

Video credit: News Mandarin

But despite the good response reported, sentiment on Weibo seems less enthusiastic.

One user, iFantast, said: "People have too much money and need somewhere to spend it."

钱多得不知道干什么好了。

Another, 画中桃花戏流年 said: "People don't feel like living anymore."

活的不耐烦了

Xinglai's founders said in a blog post that April 4 was selected as its official opening date, because "four" in Chinese is a homonym for the word for "death." The date also marked the start of the Qingming festival in China this week, where people travel to ancestral grave sites to pay respects to the dead.

Individual tickets cost 444 yuan ($68) -- of course -- and the company is offering group sessions for "team building" as well, it says.

According to a 2014 CNN report, Xinglai appears to have initially been intended as an "escape room" game, where participants are made to go through several rounds of challenges in order to avoid being "killed."

But after raising some 410,000 yuan on jue.so, a Chinese crowdfunding site, the team had to return to the drawing board after facing construction issues, AsiaOne reported. Xinglai was rebuilt from scratch in April 2015.

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