Phuket Chinese celebrate Qingming

PHUKET: Phuket families of ethnic Chinese descent have been busy this week tending to the graves of their departed ancestors as part of the traditional Qingming Festival.

This year’s Qingming festivities will take place at Chinese burial grounds around the island, where believers tidy up and make offerings they believe will bring them prosperity and good fortune, while helping to ward off the evil spirits that tend to wander this time of year.

In Phuket, Qingming activities last five days, with this year’s offering ceremonies starting with the arrival of the fifth ming (solar term) in the Chinese calendar on April 5.

The Phuket Gazette would like to wish all of our esteemed readers of Chinese descent the best of health and happiness in this Year of the Rabbit.

— Wichai Witthawat