300,000 people visited Shenzhen Bay Park to celebrate the Qingming Festival holiday
Qingming Festival, also called Tomb Sweeping Day or Pure Brightness in English, usually falls on April 4 or 5. Qingming (清明) is the second of 24 solar terms on the traditional Chinese solar calendar. It is also a time for people to go outside and start enjoying the greenery of spring.
Qingming Festival Facts
- Chinese: 清明节 Qīngmíng jié / ching-ming jyeah/ ‘Pure Bright Festival’
- Date: April 4 or 5 (start of Qingming, solar term two)
- Importance: top day for showing respect to / worshipping ancestors
- Celebrations: tomb sweeping, food/drink offerings, fire crackers
- History: over 2,500 years
How Do Chinese Celebrate the Qingming Festival?
There are various activities for Qingming Festival. The most popular ones, including tomb sweeping, spring outings, and kite flying, and putting willow branches on gates, have been an important part of this festival since the beginning.
People often participate in a sport to ward off the cold and in anticipation of the arrival of spring. The festival integrates both reverence and fun through its customs.
Tomb Sweeping — the Most Important Custom of Qingming Festival
People commemorate and show respect to their ancestors by visiting their graves, and offering food, tea, wine, incense, joss paper (representing money), etc. They sweep the tombs, removing weeds, and adding fresh soil to the graves, stick willow branches on the tomb, and burn incense and ‘paper money’.
They pray before their ancestors’ graves and beseech them to bless their families. However, the custom has been greatly simplified today, especially in cities, where only flowers are presented to the dead relatives
