Qingming Festival special

Updated:2012-03-31 14:47



Editor's note	Origins and customs
Tomb Sweeping Day, or Qingming - which falls on April 4 this year - is a national festival stretching back more than 2,500 years for people to honor and remember their deceased loved-ones at cemeteries and memorials. It is not just a day to honor those who have passed away, but also a time to embrace life at the beginning of spring. In our special report, we will cover the origins and customs of Qingming, the ways people pay their respect, and the innovative and increasingly green ways people commemorate the deceased on this day. The following poem by Du Mu (AD 803-852 ) depicted the fetival more than 1,000 yars ago. A drizzling rain falls like tears on the Mourning Day; The mourner's heart is breaking on his way. Where can a wine house be found to drown his sadness? A cowherd points to Almond Flower (Xing Hua) Village in the distance.	About Qingming culture

Luxury offerings to the fallen

Every year across the country, more than 1,000 metric tons of paper products are burned as offerings during the Qingming Festival period, costing more than 10 billion yuan, according to China Consumers' Association.

Here are new items this year: Paper-made imitations of famous brand-name luxuries, including Louis Vuitton bags, cars, laptops, watches, garments, wine and cigarettes, were among the items that saw the largest price hike...Even paper-made concubines and nannies have been added to the traditional offerings. [Full story]

Green Tomb Sweeping Day
Online streaming memorials, flowers and condolence cards are increasingly popular new ways of honoring the dead this Tomb Sweeping Day.
Qingdao: E-memorials promoted An online system of cemeteries has been set up to promote an environment-friendly way of mourning on the Internet. The system is aimed at developing a new application that citizens can use to upload their ancestors' photos and mourn them online. [Full story]	Guilin: New trends sweep in for old tradtion Citizens in Guilin increasingly prefer to lay flowers instead of burning incense or counterfeit money during memorials. Condolence cards are handed out for free to mourners at Guilin Feng Huang Shan Cemetery and several others. [Full story]
Shanghai: Sea burials save 35,000 sq m of land In the last 21 years, 35,000 square meters of burial land and 10,000 square meters of stone have been saved in Shanghai thanks to sea burials. [Full story] Hong Kong: New ways to deal with the dead Like many other industries, the funeral business is also trying to go green. Biodegradable urns, paper coffins and emission-reducing crematoriums were all presented.[Full story]	Hefei: Ashes laid to rest at green funeral While everyone is trying to cool the real estate market prices for those starting a new life, the cost of a space underground for the dead is surging to incredible heights. (*Tiny graves sell for more than city housing)Though Chinese mourners want a permanent resting place to visit and honor their dead, they are now embracing new memorial options, such as sea and flower burial.*

Tomb Sweeping headlines

Tomb Sweeping revives a business to cry for
Too busy to mourn your dead ancestors this Tomb Sweeping Day, or wanting an extra chorus of crying or wailing at the graveside? [Full story]

Four songs and a funeral
A grieving daughter paid a 1,000 yuan bill after a band, unknown to the family, played four songs at her mother's funeral and she was too embarrassed to stop the music. [Full story]

Profiles: Funeral industry workers

Young people who don't shy away from death

Hangzhu, Zhejiang

Cemetery worker helps keep resting place neat

In the past, the funeral industry was a taboo trade for young people, but now more are going into the industry.

Help to honor the dead

Curb high funeral charges

" Government’s efforts to curb the funeralcosts include a pricing standard for basic funeral services, such as transportation and storage of the body, cremation and the handling of ashes, will be issued. In the meantime, fees for optional services - such as body preservation and funeral arrangements - can be decided by funeral homes under a proposed government standard.

Govt to boost rates of cremation

The downward trend for cremations in China may begin to reverse following a plan to cut or waive funeral expenses for poor households that choose cremation.[Full story]

Qingming activities

Plot in classic novel restages in Beijing	Painting eggs for Qingming Festival	Floating the idea of a green Qingming

Silk Flowers brighten tombs	Paper cranes to honor martyrs	Paying respects at Qingming