Qing Ming Festival The school week is extended due to the Qing Ming Festival, a special time to honor ancestors and elders by making a special effort to visit their graves. This mourning festival also serves as an opportunity for the younger generation to learn of the lives and contributions of their ancestors. Throughout the city people sweep the grave sites with willow branches and decorate the tombstones with fresh flowers. Often families leave offerings of food. Walking along the city streets in the evening, the small light from a sacrificial fire can be seen. Relatives burn money to send to relatives in the after life. Over one billion dollars will be burned by the end of this festival - not to worry it is fake money. This is also a time to relish family time, as the schools and most businesses will be closed. Everything is in bloom – the tree blossoms drift down and litter the sidewalks with soft petals to welcome Spring. Colorful kites dot the afternoon sky and illuminate the night sky like lanterns filling the horizon with twinkling stars. After a time, the strings are cut and the kites appear to rise toward heaven signifying good luck and the release of illness.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorFortunate veteran teacher in Sharon, Massachusetts, who is traveling with the Chinese Exchange students from Sharon High to Xi'an, China. Archives
May 2017
Categories |