Letter from Chengdu: Martyn Kelly on Qingming

‘It was more than a series of rituals.’

by Martyn Kelly 29th May 2026

Our annual trip to visit family in Chengdu often coincides with Easter, but also with the Chinese festival of Qingming (tomb cleaning), when ancestors are venerated not just by tidying up their graves but also by leaving gifts and setting off fire crackers, followed by a family meal. It is a complicated mix of folk religion and intergenerational conviviality.