Qingming Festival Holiday 2016 will be from April 2nd to April 4th, 2016.
During the holiday, all the courses will be canceled.
Please pay high attention to your safety in dormitory and public places. Some
warm reminders are as follows:
(1) Please observe the regulations of Beihang University and Foreign Students
Dormitory. Overnight staying in dormitory for your visitors shall be strictly
prohibited. Do not be drunk. The use of high-power electrical appliances in
student dormitories is strictly prohibited (induction cooker, electric oven,
etc.) And Keep quiet and clean in your dorm.
(2) Please make sure that you have closed doors and windows and turned off
the water and electricity before leaving.
(3) Please take good care of your identity documents (e.g. passport, student
card, etc.) and the personal belongings.
(4) It is forbidden to buy or ride motor bicycles.
(5) Please keep away from crowded or dangerous areas (e.g. WuDaoKou, SanLiTun
Village, Houhai).
(6) In case of emergency, please dial 010-82317110 for the Security
Department of the university or 110 for the police, and contact the
International School.
RCSSTEAP (China)
April 1, 2016
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Qingming Festival Introduation
The Qingming (Pure Brightness) Festival is one of the 24 seasonal
division points in China, falling on April 4-6 each year. After the festival,
the temperature will rise up and rainfall increases. It is the high time for
spring plowing and sowing. But the Qingming Festival is not only a seasonal
point to guide farm work, it is more a festival of commemoration.
The Qingming Festival sees a combination of sadness and happiness. This is the most important day of sacrifice. Both the Han and minority
ethnic groups at this time offer sacrifices to their ancestors and sweep the
tombs of the diseased. Also, they will not cook on this day and only cold food
is served.
The Hanshi (Cold Food) Festival was usually one day before the Qingming
Festival. As our ancestors often extended the day to the Qingming, they were
later combined.
On each Qingming Festival, all cemeteries are crowded with people who
came to sweep tombs and offer sacrifices. Traffic on the way to the cemeteries
becomes extremely jammed. The customs have been greatly simplified today. After
slightly sweeping the tombs, people offer food, flowers and favorites of the
dead, then burn incense and paper money and bow before the memorial tablet.
In contrast to the sadness of the tomb sweepers, people also enjoy hope
of Spring on this day. The Qingming Festival is a time when the sun shines
brightly, the trees and grass become green and nature is again lively. Since
ancient times, people have followed the custom of Spring outings. At this time
tourists are everywhere.
People love to fly kites during the Qingming Festival. Kite flying is
actually not limited to the Qingming Festival. Its uniqueness lies in that
people fly kites not during the day, but also at night. A string of little
lanterns tied onto the kite or the thread look like shining stars, and
therefore, are called "god's lanterns."
The Qingming Festival is also a time to plant trees, for the survival
rate of saplings is high and trees grow fast later. In the past, the Qingming
Festival was called "Arbor Day". But since 1979, "Arbor
Day" was settled as March 12 according to the Gregorian calendar.
* Article from Baidu.
