Qingming, meaning clear and bright, is the most important springtime festival.  It is also called  Tomb Sweeping Festival, on which people visit the gravesites of their ancestors, pay respects to the dead at their tombs and hold memorial ceremonies in honor of their ancestors.  This is one of many ways to demonstrate filial piety.  As part of honoring the dead, people will spend some time cleaning the gravesite area. They will uproot the weeds near the gravesite, plant some new trees, wipe the tombstones and decorate the tombstone with fresh flowers.

It is not just a day for mourning the dead.  The festival is celebrated two weeks after the Vernal Equinox, and the dates usually turn out to be the 4th, 5th, or 6th of April.  With family outings people will celebrate the new season, the onset of warmer weather, and the start of spring plowing.

Nowadays, Qingming is not just a day of remembrance, it is also a day to celebrate the coming of spring.  With the coming of spring, nature wakes up, dressing the world in green.  All is new, clean and fresh, therefore Qingming is also a happy occasion for outdoor activities.  People go on picnics, play tug-of-war, fly kites, go swinging and dancing etc.  This might be an important reason why this festival has been very popular for thousands of years.