Beijing, March 3 (Zhongxin Net) -- Qingming is approaching, and the peak of festivals in various places is coming one after another. This year's Qingming Festival is the first festival after entering a new stage of epidemic prevention and control, and compared with previous years, the peak period of festival cleaning has been brought forward and the flow of people has also increased significantly. In addition, some new forms of ritual cleaning are becoming more and more recognized.
Major cemeteries in Beijing have launched a number of service measures to benefit the people and facilitate their tomb visits. The picture shows the Wan'an Cemetery. Photo by China News Agency reporter Jia Tianyong
The peak of the Qingming Festival in many places has arrived early
This past weekend, Beijing, Shanghai, Jiangsu and other places ushered in the first peak day of the Qingming Festival. A number of cemetery staff said that this year's peak festival was earlier than in previous years.
In mid-March, the major cemeteries in Shanghai have entered the festival cleaning period. According to the requirements of Shanghai Qingming Festival cleaning work, major cemeteries will implement appointment cleaning on April 3, 4, 1, 2 and 3. Since 4 o'clock on March 5, each cemetery has opened an appointment service on the WeChat public account. After successful booking, you can bring up to 5 family members and friends.
Due to the early arrival of the peak of the festival, in recent days, in some cities, the flow of people in cemeteries has also increased significantly. According to media reports, since March 3, Shanghai has opened 18 Qingming designated tomb sweeping shuttles in advance. Among them, 13 grave sweeping lines connected to the rail are free of charge. The two-hour crowd flow of Shanghai Songhe Cemetery has reached seven times the number of people in the same period in 7.
In Zhenjiang, Jiangsu, March 3 also ushered in a wave of festivals and small peaks. On that day, more than 18,36000 people were cleaned at the Chestnut Mountain Cemetery. Ma Yong, deputy director of the Zhenjiang Funeral Management Department, told the media, "This year's situation is more special, Qingming only has one day off, coupled with the previous two years due to epidemic control, the cemetery was not opened, so this year's flow of people is relatively concentrated, compared with previous years, the peak of the festival is significantly earlier." ”
On March 3, the Beijing Municipal Traffic Management Bureau issued traffic guidelines during the Qingming Festival, and it is expected that the flow of people and vehicles will be more concentrated and dense on peak days this year.
The picture shows a staff member of Shanghai Fushou Garden "cleaning on behalf of the deceased's family". Photo courtesy of interviewee
"Water-soluble sacrifice", civilized sacrifice to mourn
For some families of the deceased who cannot attend to remember their ancestors, Shanghai Fushou Garden continues to provide "cloud sacrifice cleaning" and "valet sacrifice cleaning" services this year. The staff will convey the greetings of the loved ones in front of the tomb, and complete the ceremonies such as wiping the tombstones, laying flowers, bowing, etc., and convey the photos of the scene to the family members of the deceased after the end.
In order to cope with the peak inflow of large customers, Shanghai Fushou Garden has also added temporary comprehensive service points in many places in the park, providing free rental of wheelchairs, free drinks, yellow ribbons & wish cards, ritual cleaning supplies, convenient umbrellas, reading glasses, park maps, etc. All service points have added staff and some temporary volunteers to do some coordination and dredging work in the park.
A staff member also introduced to Chinanews.com that in addition to the festival, this year Shanghai Fushou Garden will also hold a spring market fair, provide catering services, traditional culture display, combined with the park's tulip flower exhibition, to provide citizens with leisure services.
While remembering the ancestors and expressing condolences, some green and low-carbon new ways of ritual cleaning have gradually been recognized by the masses.
Infographic: A thousand paper cranes folded from water-soluble paper. Photo by China News Agency reporter Tomita
Not long ago, the Columbarium of the Babaoshan Funeral Home in Beijing held a memorial service of "family sacrifice and water-soluble sacrifice", and people used the method of "water-soluble sacrifice" to place their condolences. After the staff presented a basket of flowers to the deceased and recited the sacrifice, the paper crane folded with water-soluble paper was slowly placed into a small pool.
According to curator Li Zhanying, water-soluble paper is a degradable material, compared with some traditional sacrifices such as burning incense candles and setting off firecrackers, water-soluble sacrifices are more environmentally friendly, ecological and civilized.
On March 3, at the news media briefing on the Qingming Festival festival cleaning work in Shandong Province, all localities were required to create "smoke-free cemeteries", organize and carry out activities such as "flowers for paper money" and "ribbons to send condolences", and actively promote new methods such as online festivals, flower festivals, and family memorial meetings, and guide the establishment of new trends such as changing customs and customs.
According to a press conference held by the Information Office of the Shandong Provincial Government on March 3, the province has opened 9 "Shandong Province Online Festival Sweeping Cloud Platform" and local festival sweeping platforms, carrying out a total of 63 collective sacrifices, 930,2 valet sacrifices, and 9.312 million online festivals. (End)