My 2026 Qingming Festival | Blog

Grandmother's Death Anniversary and Tomb Sweeping

We had two busy weekends in a row, due to Qingming Festival and my paternal grandmother's death anniversary.

Qingming Festival 2026 took place on April 5, but it coincided with my grandmother's death anniversary, so my father's side of the family decided to observe the death anniversary first, then on the next weekend, sweep the tombs of my great uncle and paternal grandparents per family tradition.

My parents and I set off on April 10, Friday morning, to my parents' hometown, and stayed at a homestay for one night, then we swept tombs on the next day. Like last year's Qingming Festival, I did not join my parents and relatives to visit my great uncle's tomb, because the road at that graveyard was too difficult for me to traverse due to my visual impairment, but I joined them to visit my paternal grandparents' tomb.

After completing the tomb sweeping and having lunch with relatives, my parents and I returned home.

Family Durian Plantation, Bak Baan and Her Children

When we travelled back to my parents' hometown on April 10, Friday, in preparation for tomb sweeping tomorrow, we visited our family's durian plantation and by extension, my uncle's dogs Bak Baan and her children.

This marked the second time I saw Bak Baan's second litter of puppies, and the first time my mother did so since she did not join us in our previous visit during Lunar New Year. I am glad my mother was finally able to witness the black-and-white two-toned puppy of Bak Baan that we called "dairy cow".

Unfortunately, just like Bak Baan lost two of her children from her first litter, Bak Baan lost another two children from her second litter — one of the new puppies died of blood loss after being attacked by another dog, and another was killed by a vehicle. Poor things...

On a more positive note, I managed to snap new photos of our family durian plantation and my uncle's dogs.

Photo of a durian plantation, consists of durian trees and a grassland. One durian tree is front and centre, with a white stick-like irrigation device beside it. — A part of my family's durian plantation. The photo has one durian tree front and centre, with a white stick-like irrigation device beside it.

Photo of a mixed breed white female dog with brown spots on her forehead, ears, and tail, standing at the compound of a house, looking away from the camera while smiling. — Bak Baan is now a mum who had given birth to two litter of puppies.

Photo of a one-year-old dog of a large breed with a light brown coat resting on a concrete floor, opening his mouth and looking away from the camera. — Aside from the coat colour, Musang King, who is about one year old at this point, looks a lot like his mum.

Photo of five puppies eating and surrounding a plate of dog food. Two of the puppies have a black coat, one other has a black-and-white dual-tone coat, one other has a dark brown coat with light brown legs, and the last one has a light brown and grey coat. — Bak Baan's second litter of puppies, all four months old at this point, are enjoying their dog food meal.