A Chinese emperor first set the Qingming Festival, or the Tomb Sweeping Festival, in memory of a loyal official who sacrificed himself to save the emperor's life more than 2,500 years ago.

Nowadays, the festival which falls on Wednesday has become an important occasion for Chinese to show gratitude to their ancestors by traveling to their graves where they light incense, burn fake paper money and present flowers.

Fushouyuan Cemetery in eastern metropolis of Shanghai is expected to see streams of people visiting its special memorial parks that honor fallen police and model workers.

The parks received around 60,000 visitors last weekend and the number was predicted to hit 150,000 at Qingming Festival which is Wednesday, said Yi Hua deputy manager of the cemetery.

According to Yi, many people come to pay respect to the people who 'have left precious treasures to the world' and sleep forever in the special park which was built in 2002. Most visitors are not relatives of the dead.

Standing in front of one of the monuments contain the remains of 3,552 Shanghai people Mr. Wang bows deeply.

"I respect these pioneers who have contributed their all to society," said the 59-year-old man, who also applied to donate his remains to medical research.

Thousands of netizens have written on-line message to show their gratitude and respect to the heroes and martyrs in Chinese history in response to the call to "mourn Chinese heroes at the Qingming Festival" sponsored by the Central Committee of Communist Youth League of China.

More than 130 million netizens and over 1,000 websites were involved since the activity was launched in 2002, said Li Wenge, deputy director of the committee's information office, adding they have received messages from around 10 million people so far this year.

A netizen by the name of Donis Cai wrote, "I am deeply aware of what we have today is from your brilliant sacrifice, even at the price of your lives. Please accept my sincere salute and we will remember you forever."

"On-line memorial activities are free from the restrictions of time and space, which provides a more convenient means for modern Chinese, especially the younger generation, to get involved and pass on the old traditions of Qingming," said Li.

However, Luo Kai, a 29-year-old computer engineer working in Chengdu, capital of southwestern Sichuan Province, said he preferred the tradition customs of worshipping ancestors at Qingming Festival.

The Luo plans to return on Wednesday to a mountainous village more than 100 kilometers from Chengdu to mourn their forefathers buried there, which has been a family tradition for generations.

"I want to say 'Hi' to my grandfather who passed away nine years ago. He is the one who loved me most and the one I respect most. Which way we chose to mourn him doesn't matter," said Luo.

Everyone should be grateful for all that they own and enjoy. With that in mind they should care for others and help others to leave their own legacy for the future, said Yu Xianyang, professor with the department of Social Science of the Beijing-based Renmin University of China.

"The Qingming Festival reminds the modern Chinese of the importance of being thankful while recalling their forefathers, which is exactly what China needs in building a harmonious society," said Yu.
 
(Xinhua News Agency April 5, 2006)