Qing Ming Festival 2010

The Qingming Festival (simplified Chinese: 清明节) Clear Bright Festival, Ancestors Day or Tomb Sweeping Day is a traditional Chinese festival on the 104th day after the winter solstice (or the 15th day from the Spring Equinox), usually occurring around April 5 of the Gregorian calendar (see Chinese calendar).

The Qingming festival falls on the first day of the fifth solar term, named Qingming. Its name denotes a time for people to go outside and enjoy the greenery of springtime (踏青 Tàqīng, "treading on the greenery") and tend to the graves of departed ones.


Qingming has been regularly observed as a statutory public holiday in Taiwan and in the Chinese jurisdictions of Hong Kong and Macau. Its observance was reinstated as a public holiday in mainland China in 2008, after having been previously suppressed by the ruling Communist Party in 1949.
 
But unfortunately, its not a holiday in SG so we've to either do the "tomb sweeping" during weekends or take annual leave from from work.
 
Its strange but somehow before/ during the Qingming festival, the weather would be rather wet and it has been raining heavily in SG for the past few days.
 
In SG to avoid the hugh crowd, we'll usually go before the actual or after the actual day but it has to be within the same month in the Chinese Calendar.
 
Yesterday morning, we've gone to pay respect to our late grandparents whose tables are housed in Ju Shi Lin temple near to River Valley.
 
This coming Fri, we're going back to Ipoh so that we can join his dad to go to Tapah this Sunday for the "ancestor tomb sweeping".
 
We've booked the Firefly air-ticket to depart this Fri and return on Sun; and the air-tix cost us RM1,530 for 2 paxs.
It's very expensive for such a short trip but we think this is a better choice since I'm currently under fertility treatment and should not be stressed up.
 
No doubt driving is cheaper alternative but I may be stressed up due to the long drive, custom jam and worried that RY may fall asleep during the long drive ..........
 
We've to pay such a high air fare as Firefly (subsi of Malaysia Air) is the only airline that flies from SG to Ipoh and there's no domestic flight from KL to Ipoh ...........