Pandemic posing challenges for annual tomb-sweeping day when Chinese families honour their dead

A Chinese holidaythat brings groups together in graveyards to honour their dead and tidy up their tombstones is facing challenges this year due to the pandemic, and a B.C. funeral director wants people to know that's OK

Ching Ming, also known asTomb-Sweeping Day in English, occurs annually in early April and this year lands on Sunday. In pre-pandemic years, families would gather on this dayat the graves of their relatives to clean the gravesites, pray to their ancestors and make ritual offerings .

Those offerings often include traditional foods such as date cake and rice balls and the burning of incense and joss paper, also known as ghost or spirit money.

"It's a celebration and remembrance of the ancestors," saidTony Chun Pun Chan,funeral director at Can Trust Funeral in Richmond.

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That being said, Chun Pun Chan says he thinks those who the holiday honours would understand why, under present pandemic circumstances, they didn't draw a crowd this year.

"I do not believe the ancestor wants to put their living families at risk," he said. "They will understand that we are in a difficult time."

In mid-March, Provincial Health Officer Dr.Bonnie Henry amended a public health order after four months of restrictions on social gatherings. The amendment allowsBritish Columbians togather outside in groups of up to 10people, as long as it's the same group.

Chun Pun Chan said the gatherings often are quite sizeable and this year suggests families separate into smaller groups to stay safe.

He also suggested visiting gravesites either a day or two before to reduce overall numbers in cemeteries on Sunday.

"When the pandemic is over, we can still go back to the gravesite and clean up," he said.

LISTEN|Tony Chun Pun Chan on the significance of Ching Ming and pandemic challenges: