Mooncake-shaped Qingmingguo with Chinese character "福" printed on it to pray for good fortune [Photo/WeChat account: quzhoufb]

When Qingming Festival, or Tomb-sweeping Day, approaches, it is the tradition of Quzhou natives to make the following three foods.

Qingmingguo

Qingmingguo can also be called qingtuan, or green rice balls. For more selective Quzhou natives, only the handmade qingtuan with a strong mugwort fragrance can truly be called Qingmingguo.

The dish is made from glutinous rice and pounded mugwort - an edible wild herb thought to prevent toxic insect bites, which is only available in early spring. In addition to being shaped like balls, Qingmingguo can also be shaped like dumplings or mooncakes with different stuffings, such as sesame paste, red bean paste, or duck eggs and dried meat floss.

Steamed buns with chopped green onions

These buns are also called filial piety buns, and are made specially for senior citizens.

Ingredients for the dish are quite simple: flour and stuffing. The stuffing is chopped quite finely to suit the palate of the elderly and includes dofu, turnips, bamboo shoots, meat, and, of course, green onions.

Pancakes

The pancakes made during the Qingming Festival, also called mama pancakes, originated from Yudong village.

In ancient times, men in the village went out to work in the early mornings while women and children stayed at home. To feed the children, women made pancakes with flour and homemade pickled cabbages, which are tasty and crispy and can be kept for a long time.

As time passed, the pancake became a dish full of nostalgia for mothers.