Chinese translation: Top 8 Words for Qingming Festival

For those of you unfamiliar with the 2,500 plus years of tradition behind this holiday, it’s all about tomb sweeping, spring outings and kite flying. This year’s Qingming Festival (清明节 － qīng míng jié) falls on April 4th, 2013.

Here are some of the top 8 words and phrases used for 清明节 that are found in the wild!

8. 风筝 (fēng zhēng): kite
zài nǐ xīn mù zhōng xī’ ān zuì shì hé fàng fēng zhēng dì dì fāng shì nǎ’ er ne?
在你心目中西安最适合放风筝的地方是哪儿呢?
wher do you think is the most suitable place to fly kites in Xi’an?

7. 祭品 (jì pǐn): sacrifices; offerings
měi dào qīng míng jié qián, lù kǒu dōu yǒu hěn duō shāo zhǐ, shāo jì pǐn de shì mín.
每到清明节前，路口都有很多烧纸、烧祭品的市民。
Before every Qingming Festival, there are a lot of people on the roads burning paper and offerings.

6. 祭祀 (jì sì): offer sacrifices to ancestors
qīng míng jié kuài dào le, rú guǒ gāng hǎo nà shí rén zài wài dì, wú fǎ huí háng zhōu lái jì sì, zěn me bàn？
清明节快到了，如果刚好那时人在外地，无法回杭州来祭祀，怎么办？
It’s almost Qingming Festival. What do you do if at that time you happen to be out of town and have no way to offer sacrifices to your ancestors？

5. 踏青 (tà qīng): outing
qīng míng jià qī zhǔ yào yǐ guó nèi jí duǎn tú chū jìng yóu wéi zhǔ, tà qīng shì qīng míng jié chū xíng de shǒu xuǎn zhǔ tí.
清明假期主要以国内及短途出境游为主，踏青是清明节出行的首选主题。
The Qingming Festival for those within mainland China is a short holiday, wher the main part of it is going on an outing.

4. 菊花 (jú huā): chrysanthemum
suī rán méi zhí duō shǎo qián, dàn zài gān zào de tiān qì xià, chōng yī bēi jú huā mì táng, hē qǐ lái rén dōu xǐng shén hǎo duō.
虽然没值多少钱，但在干燥的天气下，冲一杯菊花蜜糖，喝起来人都醒神好多。
Even though it’s not worth a lot of money, making a cup of chrysanthemum tea with honey to drink during dry weather really lifts people’s spirits up.

3. 冷食 (lěng shí): cold food; cold dishes
qīng míng zhī rì, bù dòng yān huǒ, zhǐ chī lěng shí.
清明之日，不动烟火，只吃冷食。
On Qingming day, you can’t light fireworks and can only eat cold dishes.

2. 插柳 (chā liǔ): plant willow trees
wǒ guó gǔ dài zài qīng míng shí jié jiù yǒu chā liǔ zhí shù de chuán tǒng.
我国古代在清明时节就有插柳植树的传统。
During ancient times in my country for Qingming Festival, a tradition was to plant willow trees.

1. 扫墓 (sǎo mù): sweep tombs; tomb sweeping
zuó tiān, chèn zhe tiān qì bù cuò, bù shǎo shì mín gǎn zhe qù jiāo wài sǎo mù.
昨天，趁着天气不错，不少市民赶着去郊外扫墓。
Taking advantage of the weather yesterday, many people rushed to the outskirts of the city to sweep tombs.