As incense smoke curled through Wuhan’s streets this Qingming Festival, residents paused to honor both personal losses and collective sacrifice. For the first time, China’s traditional Tomb Sweeping Day doubled as a National Mourning Day, commemorating those who died fighting COVID-19 – a pandemic that hit this city hardest in early 2020.
‘Their Bravery Planted Seeds of Hope’
🏙️ Huang Li, a bookstore owner near the Yangtze River, told NewspaperAmigo.com: ‘We light three sticks today – one for family, one for healthcare workers, and one for strangers who became heroes.’ Many shared her sentiment, with memorial websites flooding with virtual chrysanthemum emojis (🌼) from young netizens.
From Grief to Gratitude
Local student Zhang Wei, 22, recalled: ‘During lockdowns, doctors slept in corridors. Now we picnic under cherry blossoms they never saw bloom.’ The city observed three minutes of silence at 10 AM, with ferries on the Yangtze sounding horns in unison – a moment trending on Douyin as #SilentSalute.
‘This pain forged our resilience,’ said nurse Liu Yan, who lost colleagues during the crisis. ‘But today isn’t just about looking back – it’s about walking forward together.’ As dusk fell, paper lanterns bearing messages like ‘Thank You, Angels in White’ floated down the Han River, blending ancient customs with modern remembrance.
