Qing Ming Easter

So I see from facebook posts and from overhearing conversations that Chinese People are doing their Qing Ming, hahng san, grave sweeping. visiting the graves of their ancestors. In my case it would be my parents. I didn't grow up doing this. My dad's ashes were kept right in the house, and then my bedroom. Which I later found out, according to my Sifu, was bad feng shui and would give me bad luck. Even though Han Chinese are supposedly one ethnic group, various villages have their own rules for customs. Some villages just clean the grave site with water. Most Taishanese bring offerings of roast pigs and cooked chickens, the organs still there, as offerings, and wine and incense and paper money, and cakes, and they eat it right there at the gravesite, often accompanied by firecrackers and even drums and lion dance if it is available. I went with my Si Hing in China, tagging along (which was considered okay) and some guys even laid out a mat and started gambling big two as well. I.e. it's a party with your dead relatives. Some villages you have to do it on the Day of Qing Ming. For Sifu's village it can be done anytime, except that exact day. My father's village, I'm not even sure which village he is from. I heard from a family friend that he is from Dongguan ( a city not the local village or town... or maybe it's a town) so that's what we put on the tombstone when we finally buried his ashes along with my mother's. Ironically, after searching for where the hometown was to put on the tombstone, the engravers ended up spelling the name wrong.. in English. He had a phoeneticized version of a Chinese name. Po Yu Cheung. The name on the stone is Bo Yu Cheung. But I guess that doesn't matter as much so long as the Chinese name (which of course I can't actually read except for the family name which is the same as mine.. My father being my father.) is written correctly. Anyway, last year we decided that we would just start doing our Qing Ming, during Easter. In fact, I guess the two holidays are somewhat related. Jesus' disciples and "others" (that's actually what it said in Luke King James version) went to the grave with spices and other stuff. I don't think Jews go every year, at around the same time, it's just that since Jesus had just died they have to go three days later. I could be wrong about that. And lo and behold, he came back to life, and left. For Qing Ming, you go with a bunch of food and paper money to burn  and it is a yearly occurrence. (I read you are also supposed to go for the winter solstice. I heard the Christians with Norse influence do this two) It's like visiting relatives, except their dead. But you bring food, money and gifts, as if they were alive. See kind of like Jesus and Easter. Anyway, the pagan influence on Easter, rebirth, fertility, eggs, shape shifting witches and hares.... actually I don't know much about that but it seems kind of like it could all mix together alright. So last year we tried it. And failed... more on that next entry. We are ging to try again this year anyway.