Qingming Festival in the eyes of foreigners

nosherwanabbasi (Pakistan)

Qingming Festival is a very traditional Chinese festival and remarkable because of its meaning and activities. This festival is about remembering and honoring ancestors in graveyards. People visit tombs and graves with family to clean the grave sites and spend time in remembrance.

I am a Muslim from Pakistan and it reminds me of such similar activities. We don’t have a specific day or festival for visiting tombs and graves, but we usually visit every year on Islamic festivals such as on the two Eids. We visit graveyards and clean gravesites. We also light candles and pray for peace in the hereafter. Such events are very healthy and play a vital role in keeping social life alive. I have also noticed that Chinese people are focused on this, asking their children to visit tombs and graves on this festival to continue this tradition in the next generation.