The Qingming Festival (清明节) — known in English as Tomb-Sweeping Day — is a traditional Chinese festival for honouring ancestors by tending their graves. It falls around 4–5 April each year (see the Qingming holiday page for the exact date). Here's the history and meaning.
See also China's holiday calendar.
What is the Qingming Festival?
Qingming means roughly "clear and bright" — describing the fresh spring weather around the time it's held. The festival is a day for remembering and honouring ancestors, when families visit gravesites to clean and tidy them, make offerings, and pay their respects.
It dates back over 2,500 years and has roots connected to the older Hanshi ("cold food") observance.
Why it falls around April 4–5
Unlike most Chinese festivals that follow the lunar calendar, Qingming is tied to a solar term — the point marking the start of the "Qingming" period in the traditional Chinese solar calendar. Because of this, it consistently falls around 4–5 April each year. Check the holiday page for the exact date.
Traditions of Qingming
- Sweeping the tombs (sǎomù) — cleaning ancestors' graves, pulling weeds, and adding fresh soil.
- Offerings — food, tea, wine, incense, and the burning of joss paper ("spirit money").
- Spring outings (tàqīng) — enjoying the fresh spring weather, an old custom of the season.
- Flying kites, sometimes flown at night with little lanterns attached.
- Willow branches placed on gates and doors.
In mainland China, Qingming is a public holiday.
Quick answers
What is the Qingming Festival? A traditional Chinese festival, also called Tomb-Sweeping Day, for honouring ancestors by tending their graves and making offerings.
Why is Qingming around April 4–5? It's based on a solar term (the sun's position), not the lunar calendar, so it falls at roughly the same early-April date every year.
What do people do on Qingming? Clean ancestral graves, make offerings, burn joss paper, take spring outings, and fly kites.
When is Qingming 2026? Around 4–5 April 2026 — see the holiday page for the exact date.