A week ago, we celebrated the hope and joy of Easter. It’s interesting to think of what if must’ve been like to look into the empty tomb, realizing that the promised resurrection was true.
Two weeks ago, another tomb-related festival was held here in China – Qingming Jie: a time to sweep the ancestral graves and offer sacrifices. We hiked up the nearby mountains yesterday, walking through areas full of tombs:
Unlike that special grave on Easter morning, these tombs are still sealed and occupied:
On Qingming day, relatives come to clean the area around the tomb, burn incense and paper money, and place offerings of food and fruit in front of the door. Even after two weeks, there’s still quite a lot left:
Some of the trails up the mountain can get rather steep, especially on a mountain almost 7000 ft above sea level:
There is a temple on the mountaintop, enclosed by ancient gates (reported to be over 1000 years old):
This temple was bought a few years ago by an investor who hopes to improve its popularity for business purposes. One of his “upgrades” has been to replace the old trail and steps with something more modern:
As you descend from the Buddhist temple, you encounter other shrines:
In a city of over 7 million people, there must be many who are seeking to know what really happens after the tomb is sealed:
Great shots and good thoughts on what you see over there. Looks like y’all took a good hike that day! On Wed I plan on giving a gift to my Japanese conversation partner before she and her husband return home for good. I am giving her a silver bracelet with my favorite vs on it (Phil 4:13) with the hope that she will always think of me when she wears the bracelet, but more importantly will remember the one who is no longer in the tomb.
You know, the highest point in Western Australia is ~4k ft… think that you’re almost 2x as high over there!