As part of the long-held traditions during the Qingming Festival, people across China observe the festival with various holiday foods like wormwood cakes and spring rolls, to honor their ancestors and celebrate the spring season.
During the Qingming Festival, or Tomb-sweeping Day, which goes back more than 2500 years in China, it is traditional for the Chinese people to return to their hometowns and pay respect to their ancestors and deceased family members. The festival falls on Friday this year.
In Baojing County of central China's Hunan Province, locals make wormwood glutinous rice cakes as a way of remembering their ancestors and expressing their love for both the land and the season of renewal.
"We pick the wormwood early in the morning when it's at peak freshness. We choose the tip of the white wormwood because they are the most tender part. It will make the cakes extra soft, sticky and sweet," said Yang Lie, a local villager.
The preparation of wormwood cakes starts with cleaning the wormwood, which is then boiled with a bit of food-grade alkali for about 15 minutes.
Meanwhile, rice is ground into a paste in a stone mill, which is then mixed with the dried wormwood.
Wormwood cakes are filled with a variety of ingredients, ranging from sweet to savory. Once filled, they're wrapped in leaves and steamed for about 20 minutes.
In recent years, locals have come up with new varieties, such as black rice and sweet potato cakes, enriching the range of this traditional treat.
In east China's Fujian Province, it is customary to eat spring rolls around the Qingming Festival. While the ingredients for making the pancakes for the delicacy -- flour, water and salt -- seem simple, the process requires considerable skill.
As for the fillings, in addition to the usual ingredients like carrots, mushrooms and lean meat, locals add seasonal vegetables, enhancing both flavor and texture.
"We always choose seasonal vegetables during spring (for the fillings), such as leeks, pea shoots and spring bamboo shoots. Bamboo shoots are truly a springtime delicacy," said Yang Zhuzhen, a villager from Zhangzhou City of Fujian.
For locals, spring rolls are more than just a seasonal food -- they symbolize family reunion. Now, even those returning home from abroad will make sure to have spring rolls as their first meal upon arriving home, carrying on this beloved tradition.
Seasonal delicacies add to Tomb-Sweeping Day festivities
