清明节

Yesterday I was invited to a special ceremony at my dear friend Xue's grave. Her family was celebrating Ancestors Day, also called the Qingming festival. Since Xue passed away five years ago, her two brothers and their young families have arrived in Canada to join her mother.

Qingming has a tradition stretching back more than 2,500 years. It is an opportunity for family to remember and honor their ancestors at gravesite. Young and old pray before the ancestors, sweep the tombs and offer food, tea, wine, chopsticks, incense, accessories, to the ancestors.
Xue's family filled the 3 wee cups with water ( because there are 3 buried there) and then after some prayers, her brother poured each of cups on the ground and then the bottle was emptied. The two cans on either side were burning incense and good luck papers.

When all was finished, they passed around the honey cake and we all had a bit.

It was the first time I've witnessed this. Grateful to be a part of it. Later we went to have dim sum and I will show you the food in my next post.