Monday's China Youth Daily said its latest readers survey showed that about 62 percent were of the opinion that too many and too costly public memorial ceremonies were not a good thing.

A recent ceremony held in Zhushan county in central China's Hubei province in honour of the ancient earth goddess Nu Wo irked the citizenry when it was revealed that the ceremony had consumed about 1.5 million yuan (about US$197,000) of public funds.

The annual income in Hubei averages about 400 yuan (52 US dollars).

Almost 60 percent of the people surveyed agreed that the government should not indulge in too many memorial ceremonies, the newspaper story said.

A number of ancient religious and cultural icons have become the focus of public ceremonies in China, most of which are funded by local governments.

The administrations claim that these functions will help maintain local cultural traditions and might allure more investors.

But the public is skeptical. According to the survey, 59 percent thought the ceremonies were a waste of money and did not benefit the local economy.

Only 9 percent thought that this kind of ceremony was a good way to sustain cultural traditions.

China Youth Daily surveyed 1,251 people from 31 provinces, autonomous regions and municipal areas in China from May 28 to June 25. 76 percent of the respondees were men.