By Maria
In China, every year on April 5th, there is a festival called Bright and Clear Festival.
In fact, it is not a real festival but a commemoration day. Exactly, it is a sorrow day but not a happy day. On that day, people always hold a memorial ceremony for their dead relatives and friends. They pay their respects to the dead persons at their tombs. Sometimes, people bring some food, flowers and some other things to the tombs. Perhaps someone cry bitterly for their dead relatives. It is a way for people to express their think of dead relatives.
I remember clearly that during my primary school, when Bright and Clear Festival was coming, our school would organized all the pupils to visit the Martyr Cemetery. Before we went to the place everyone of us have made a small white paper flower by ourselves. On April 5th when we went to the cemetery, we put the white flower before our chest, and then, choose one of the martyrs, give the flower to him, in order to express respects to them. In China, we use white paper flower stands for our respects and thoughts to the dead person.
In China, there is a idiom that can describe the miserable atmosphere on April 5th. That is:
Continuously it rains during the Bright
and Clear Festival
Deeply depressed the people walking
on the road.
Generally speaking Bright and Clear
Festival is really a commemoration day but not a festival.