When smoke gets in your eyes

The Qingming Festival* starts again (dunno when is the exact date though) and two trips over last and this sunday did made me realise there are some things to keep in mind (for next year):

1. rise really early, like 4am! to beat the traffic or face the long and treacherous jam, which starts to hit the road from around 8am onwards.

2. remember to pack your 'Qingming Kit' the night before you set off for the journey. Some must-have and nice-to-have items to go into your backpack:
- a pair of goggle (make sure they can cover the whole area of your eyes. Run enough tests to ensure they are smoke resistant, otherwise get ready to start singing Smoke gets in your eyes)
- umbrella (comes handy, whether rain or shine)
- packs of tissue (in case you forget the goggle, you'll need this to wipe the tears and goo)
- mineral water (maybe is the smoke... being at the place seem to cause dehydration?)
- lighter not matchsticks, please.
- foldable table (Seen some people bringing this to set up their own altar. Good idea actually 'cause you don't have to queue for one, but really, I wouldn't recommend unless you have your own transport)

*The Qingming Festival or Qing Ming Jie (清明节; pinyin: Qīngmíng Jié):
- "literally Pure Brightness Festival (or Tomb Sweeping Day), is a traditional Chinese festival on the 106th day after the winter solstice, occurring on April 4 (leap years) or April 5 (other years) of the Gregorian calendar. It marks the middle of spring and above all, a sacred day of the dead.

For the Chinese, it is a day to remember and honour one's ancestors. Young and old pray before the ancestors, sweep the tombs and offer food and libation to the ancestors. The rites are very important to most Chinese and especially farmers." (*erhum* The "farmer" portion sounds strange... and is really quite redundant in my opinion.)