With Qingming festival - otherwise known as the Tomb Sweeping Festival - around the corner, an increasing number of local Xiamen residents in east China’s Fujian province are preparing to pay their respects to their ancestors. To beat the crowds, approximately 180,000 people have already paid their respects in advance on March 28 and 29.

According to the local authority, the traffic rush during the festival is expected peak during the hours of 9:00 to10:00am and 2:00 and 3:00pm during the first weekend of April. People are encouraged to take public transport to avoid traffic congestion on roads leading to the 3 major graveyards in the city.

With environmental consciousness on the rise, modern measures to worship ancestors during the festival have are expected to become a prevailing trend this year. Instead of burning paper money, more people are opting to simply present chrysanthemum or lily flowers with a card.

By Liu Xiaoyu from China Daily Fujian Bureau