Millions of residents honor memories of loved ones
People lay flowers on Fu's tomb at Haigang Lingyuan Cemetery.
Shanghai's 54 cemeteries and columbaria had more than 5 million visits from residents paying tribute to their ancestors over the Qingming Festival, or tomb-sweeping day period, which ran from March 23 to Saturday, according to the Shanghai Civil Affairs Bureau.
This was an increase on past years, and brought an extra 992,700 vehicles onto the streets. However, thanks to enhanced patrols and management, order was maintained.
Online tomb sweeping is gaining wider acceptance with 28,151 visits recorded, and 11,865 urns were interred at city tombs during the period.
The peak day was on Thursday, the day of the festival, with 1.18 million visits recorded.
As April 7 will mark the 116th commemoration of the birthday of renowned translator and educator Fu Lei (1908-1966), people paid tribute at the Qingming at Haigang Lingyuan Cemetery in the Pudong New Area.
Students read poems, paying tribute to Fu.
Students of Shanghai Fulei Middle School, named after Fu, read poems at the commemorative ceremony, eulogizing Fu's great contribution and noble spirit, and inheriting his spiritual legacy.
With gentle piano music, attendees including government officials and Fu's family and friends observed silence, bowed and laid flowers on his tomb.
Better known to many Western readers by the name Fou Lei, Fu is highly regarded for his translations of French writers, including Balzac and Voltaire.
He was born in a traditional courtyard house in Hangtou Town in Pudong. In 1912, he moved with his mother to Zhoupu, where he lived and went to school until he was 19 years old.
"Fu Lei's Family Letters," first published in 1981, has influenced generations of Chinese teenagers.
