NY Times Features Qingming Festival Rituals At Kensico

VALHALLA, N.Y. – Families gathered last weekend at Kensico Cemetery in Valhalla to honor the Chinese festival of Qingming a few days early, the New York Times reported Friday.

Qingming rituals at Kensico Cemetery in Valhalla were highlighted in the New York Times.
Photo Credit: *Courtesy dagtho.blogspot.com*

by The Daily Voice

04/06/2013 10:30 a.m.

“Kensico Cemetery has the hilly topography favored by the Chinese tradition — hilltop burial sites have good feng shui — which makes it particularly busy this time of year,” the Times reported. “Cemetery officials managed the crowds by making all 12 miles of roads one-way, bringing in portable toilets and about a dozen extra maintenance workers. They also prepared to douse incense embers at the end of the day.”

The festival of Qingming is a time for tending graves that dates back to the Tang dynasty and is recognized as a public holiday in China. This year it fell on Thursday, but many families honored it over the previous weekend.

To read the full New York Times story, click here.

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