Ching Ming festival: virtual grave sweeping and four other quirky stories
- One funeral firm allows users to build elaborate online shrines for their deceased relatives complete with embellishments like candles and flowers
- Burning paper offerings of luxury items is a traditional activity, but why were people avoiding LV in 2013?
Today, April 5, is “grave sweeping” day, an important part of the Ching Ming festival – a Confucian tradition that sees millions flock to cemeteries to pay tribute to the dead by burning paper money and joss sticks, and offering food and other trinkets.
But for those living overseas, a visit to the relatives’ graveside is not practical. Enter virtual grave sweeping, a service where graveyard firms provide online memorial pages so people can give virtual flowers, burn virtual candles and buy virtual gifts for the dead, either for free or just a few cents.
Chinese funeral service firm Waheaven.com, for example, allows its millions of users to build elaborate web shrines during the festival complete with all sorts of embellishments, from flickering candles to flowers – and even a roast pig.
Here are four other stories from the Ching Ming festival:
Travel in style in the afterlife
