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How we celebrate one of the most important festivals in Chinese/Asian culture in the UK and everything you need to prepare. What is Qingming? Qingming Festival (清明节), also called Tomb Sweeping Day or Pure Brightness Festival, is an important traditional Chinese holiday. The festival is celebrated both in China and among members of Chinese communities around the world. The main activity that people engage in on this day is cleaning the tombs of their ancestors The holiday is c

Just like the famous Chinese Story of a Buddhist monk traveling to the west with his disciples encountering many obstacles.. Here is the story of my parents journey to the west and the hardships they faced... North Vietnam During the French rule of Vietnam between 1925 and 1933, nearly 600,000 Chinese emigrated to North Vietnam including my great grandparents and in the Second Sino-Japanese war that took place from 1937 to 1941, many Chinese left for South Vietnam but my gre

The feelings I felt and the words I didn't speak.. . during the 100 days and nights I stayed by my parents altar... When my dad passed away on 8th December 2020, we were in lockdown in the UK. I stayed at the family home with my mum, my sister, my brother, my niece and nephew, and we all mourned together. We had to burn incense continuously, day and night, until the funeral, which took place four weeks after my dad passed away. After the funeral, we no longer needed to keep t

Today is 10th January 2022. It’s my birthday - my first birthday without my parents. I am still in the 100 days mourning period, so birthday celebrations are prohibited. To be honest, birthdays will never feel the same without my parents, and I’ve decided that from now on, I want to spend every birthday visiting their grave.. The word orphan  has always sounded like such a sad word to me. By definition, it means a child who has lost both parents through death. I know I still

When my mum unexpectedly passed away from covid-19, we had to make all the arrangements for the traditional Chinese funeral with Covid-19 as our obstacle. With no parents to guide and support us, we battle through a number of emotions. Monday 1st November 2021 It was 21:40 when my siblings and I sat around the hospital bed as my mum took her last breath... "she's gone now..." the doctor confirmed... It was only a couple of days ago that we spoke to Mum, and she was in good h