There are many traditions which were respected during the Qingming Festival in China earlier this week.  About 450 million people celebrated the Qingming festival this year, according to statistics from the Chinese Ministry of Civil Affairs.

Different regions have their different traditions and here are a few examples with photos. Whilst we are associating these traditions with these locations, much of the traditions mentioned below are widely observed…

In the province of Guangxi, locals make five colored rice dishes to greet the Qingming Festival.  The rice is colored using natural herbaceous plants such as day lily and maple leaf.

The five colored rice dish has a spiritual meaning for a good harvest for the year to come.   Food offerings and special dishes are very much part of Chinese Culture.   See also our blogs on

In the region south of the Yangtze River traditional green ice cakes are prepared for the Qingming Festival.

The cake is made from glutinous rice, green vegetable juice and bean paste stuffing.

This is a traditional pastry that the people in the south of the Yangtze River enjoy preparing and eating around the Qingming Festival period of the year.

More food…

In the capital city of Jinan, East of China’s Shandong Province people like the chrysanthemums and lily flowers to give as offerings on the Tomb of there ancestors.

These are placed during the ceremonial Tomb Sweeping that occurs on Qingming Festival  (April 5th 2011m this year).

In Jiangxi Province, locals burn paper imitations of money and other personal possessions in order to express their compassion and love for there relatives that past away.

Each region and provinces have their own traditions and listing them all here would certainly take more than a few blogs.

Feel free to send in some more pictures for our blogs – would love to have your insights.

 

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