The Qing Ming Festival, a traditional Chinese festival is coming very soon. It is on 5^th April. So we do not work on that day. And please kindly notice that there is no flight for Fedex and DHL on that day too.

Now let me introduce Qing Ming Festival to you. Qing Ming is a time to remember the dead and the dearly departed. More important, it is a period to honour and to pay respect to one's deceased ancestors and family members. Because it reinforces the ethic of filial piety, Qing Ming is a major Chinese festival.

Literally meaning "clear" (Qing) and "bright" (Ming), this Chinese festival falls in early spring, on the 106th day after the winter solstice. It is a "spring" festival, and it is an occasion for the whole family to leave the home and to sweep the graves of their forebears. Chinese being practical people this sweeping of the graves is given an extended period, that is, 10 days before and after Qing Ming day. Among some dialect groups a whole month is allocated.

Special Food

Sweet Green Rice Ball

The sweet green rice ball is a Qingming Festival (Tomb Sweeping Day) food popular in Jiangsu and Zhejiang Provinces. It is also a must-have offering at ancestral rituals in the south of the Yangtze River.

Like glutinous rice dumpling, Qingtuan is made from glutinous rice and stuffed with red bean paste. The difference is that squeezed wormwood or brome grass is used in the making of wrapper.

Qingming Fruit

Qingming fruit (or Qingming guo). It looks like dumplings in shape, but tastes different from dumplings. The wrapper of Qingming fruit is made from squeezed wormwood, rice and glutinous rice. Finally, it is stuffed with bean filling and cooked by steaming. Aside from sweet fillings, people also use diced bacon, dried bamboo shoot, diced mushroom and dried beancurd as substitutes.

Spiral Shell

The Qingming Festival is the right time for eating spiral shell. Spiral shell is abundant in this season.

CUSTOM

The custom of the qingming festival is richinteresting, in addition to pay attention to the fire, the grave, and outing,swing, a game called cuju, play polo, inserted liu and so on a series ofcustoms sports activities. This is because tomb-sweeping day to people from thefire, in order to prevent a cold buffet injury body, so everyone to take partin some of the sports activities, and to exercise. Therefore, this festivalboth JiSao new born from the grave don't dead BeiSuan tears, and visit outinglaughter, is a rich characteristic holiday.

According to the old tradition, the grave,people to carry goods such as especially fruit, paper money to the cemetery,will be food for offering in the tomb of loved ones, then the deadincineration, grave earthed up new soil, fold a few branches of the 60-footgreen inserted in a grave, and then KouTou worship salute, finally eatespecially home. The poets in tang dynasty DuMu poem 'painting' :'time.though rain in succession, pedestrian rains fall heavily as qingmingcomes JieWen restaurant where you have. The most ambitious almond flowers?Village.' Write the tomb-sweeping day special atmosphere.

FAMOUS POEM

A drizzling rain falls like tears on the Mourning Day;
The mourner's heart is going to break on his way。
Where can a wineshop be found to drown his sad hours?
A cowherd points to a cot 'mid apricot flowers。