Qingming Jie
In the previous post I mentioned that this week's holiday is Qingming Jie, also known as Tomb Sweeping Day. It's the traditional holiday for tending graves in China. I posted before about how in this part of Beijing it's not uncommon to see burial mounds dotting the orchards and farmlands, and how much more visible they are this time of year.
This week in Zhangjiakou we also saw evidence of Qingming Jie observance. When we were on a piece of the Outer Great Wall, we could see a rather orderly cemetery on the next hill. People had clearly been visiting this week, remembering their deceased family members with flowers and streamers.
More after the jump
The streets of Zhangjiakou were full of people vending Qingming essentials, particularly the materials for burnt offerings. Burning these for your deceased loved ones in this world equips them with what they need in the next.
Like money.
And houses, cars, and truckloads of..more money?
Such an amazing variety of objects used at the gravesites. More than just flowers.
They were also selling small trays of cut fruit and tiny bottles of baijiu, a favorite Chinese liquor.
This week in Zhangjiakou we also saw evidence of Qingming Jie observance. When we were on a piece of the Outer Great Wall, we could see a rather orderly cemetery on the next hill. People had clearly been visiting this week, remembering their deceased family members with flowers and streamers.
More after the jump
The streets of Zhangjiakou were full of people vending Qingming essentials, particularly the materials for burnt offerings. Burning these for your deceased loved ones in this world equips them with what they need in the next.
Like money.
And houses, cars, and truckloads of..more money?
Such an amazing variety of objects used at the gravesites. More than just flowers.
They were also selling small trays of cut fruit and tiny bottles of baijiu, a favorite Chinese liquor.
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