The bigger, grander, or more elaborate, the better. Even in funerals.

Asian funerals are more than just status symbols for the living and deceased. The rituals also reveal secrets of what a culture cherishes in life - values, attitudes and beliefs. This two-part documentary examines sweet, sacred and shocking traditional Asian funeral practices.

It also observes the people whose lives and livelihoods revolve around the business of grief. Professional mourners act as "cheer leaders" for the dead in Taiwan, while a community in the Indonesian highlands perform unusual death rites, where the dead "live" on as part of the mourning process.