The Qingming Festival 2026

The Qingming Festival 清明节, known in English as Tomb-Sweeping Day, is a traditional Chinese holiday. As the name suggests, it is a day when Chinese families traditionally honour their ancestors by visiting their tombs to clean the gravesites, pray, and make ritual offerings.

It is also customary to burn paper money, sometimes even outdoors in the streets, as it is believed that deceased relatives still need material goods in the afterlife. A traditional food eaten during this festival is qingtuan – delicious green dumplings made from glutinous rice and Chinese mugwort.