The Qingming Festival sees a combination of sadness and happiness.
This is the most important day of sacrifice. Both the Han
and minority ethnic groups at this time offer sacrifices to their ancestors and sweep the tombs of the diseased. Also, they
will not cook on this day and only cold food is served.
The Hanshi (Cold Food) Festival was usually one day before
the Qingming Festival. As our ancestors often extended the day to the Qingming, they were later combined.
On each Qingming Festival, all cemeteries are crowded with people who came to sweep tombs and offer
sacrifices. Traffic on the way to the cemeteries becomes extremely jammed. The customs have been greatly simplified today.
After slightly sweeping the tombs, people offer food, flowers and favorites of the dead, then burn incense and paper money
and bow before the memorial tablet.
In contrast to the sadness of the tomb sweepers, people also
enjoy hope of Spring on this day. The Qingming Festival is a time when the sun shines brightly, the trees and grass become
green and nature is again lively. Since ancient times, people have followed the custom of Spring outings. At this time tourists
are everywhere.
People love to fly kites during the Qingming Festival. Kite
flying is actually not limited to the Qingming Festival. Its uniqueness lies in that people fly kites not during the day,
but also at night. A string of little lanterns tied onto the kite or the thread look like shining stars, and therefore,
are called "god's lanterns."
The Qingming Festival is also a time to plant trees, for the
survival rate of saplings is high and trees grow fast later. In the past, the Qingming Festival was called "Arbor Day". But
since 1979, "Arbor Day" was settled as March 12 according to the Gregorian calendar.