This festival is devoted to
the memory of the ancestors. It's a traditional Chinese
holiday , usually occurring around April 5th of the Gregorian calendar. Chinese
people visit the graves or burial grounds of their ancestors, bring some fruits,
dishes, clothes and shoes (made of paper), wine, and burn the gifts, with some
fake money and golden paper.
On Qingming people go on family outings, start the spring
plowing, sing, and dance. Qingming is also the time when young couples start
courting. A popular thing to do is to fly kites in the shapes of animals
or characters from Beijing Opera.
Another common practice is to carry flowers instead of
burning paper, incense or firecrackers.
Some paintings illustrate the qingming festival, such as
"Alongtheriver QingMing"
Luckily, I have some photos to show you of a typical
ceremony :
