April 5, 2015 is Tomb Sweeping Holiday in China.
It's like our Memorial Day.
David and I made our annual trek up the mountain to this little cemetery on the mountain, which according to Fengshui is the perfect place to be buried. There used to be a steep muddy dirt path to get there. But, in recent years a huge Buddhist complex has grown up around it. There once was just one temple, The White Crane Temple. Now it looks like this.
The first times we were here you could hardly see the graves they were so overgrown and I must say, scary. In the last year much of the overgrowth has been trimmed back. It is way bigger than I first imagined it to be.
It was the weekend before the actual tomb sweeping holiday but many people were already arriving with their red bags in preparation for tomb sweeping.
Wikipedia "According to traditional beliefs, when sweeping tombs, people will offer food, tea, wine, chopsticks, joss paper accessories, and libations to their ancestors, add fresh soil to the grave, and stick willow branches on the tomb. Kowtowing is also an indispensable part of the custom."
An extremely frustrating thing for me is to not be able to communicate with people here. I would love to know their stories, their families and about this custom. We didn't want to be rude, but I think we could have gotten some really nice photos and great stories if we could have explained our interest. On several of the graves there were rows of partially smoked cigarettes, sweets, fruit and burned incense.
This couple was more than willing for us to photograph them.
We continued to climb the mountain. Quite a view of the city, but it was smoggy and we couldn't see as far as we have in the past. Coming down from the mountain was a little riskier as it was slippery clay. Thankfully, at one point I was slipping and a young man on his way up took my hand and kept me from falling, maybe he was an angel. I was thankful for his help.
All around us trees were in bloom and the weather was perfect. It was a very pleasant day together.
Inability to communicate has to be one of life's greatest frustrations. I can so relate. Just think if the whole world understood each other...what we could share. In place of that, you have your wonderful smile, Brenda, which can often say more than words. Enjoy the moments there and just let your personality shine through. Let God speak to you through all you see and experience.
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