Rachel Yan / Shanghai Daily

The country's first postgraduate program for undertakers was finally launched yesterday, with organizers saying they were glad to have found a home for the course in a nation where death is often a taboo subject, Shanghai Daily reported.

Thirty-three people signed up for the two-year course run by the Shanghai University of Science and Technology, but only four were new to the funeral industry. The rest came from local funeral homes, cemeteries and research institutes.