During the Qingming Festival, Jiangnan has the custom of having a reunion dinner. Qing Tuan is a kind of jiaozi, which is made by mashing a wild plant called "Pulp Wheat Straw" and squeezing the juice, then mixing the juice with dry pure glutinous rice flour and kneading it.
Jinzhong area still retains the habit of banning fire the day before Qingming. During the Qingming Festival, they are used to steaming big steamed buns with white flour, with walnuts, dates and beans in the middle, coiled into a dragon shape on the outside, and an egg tied in the middle of the dragon's body, named "Zifu". It is necessary to steam a big "blessing" to symbolize the reunion and happiness of the family. When going to the grave, the "Zifu" is usually dedicated to the ancestors and shared by the whole family after sweeping the grave.
There is an old saying in Hakka that "eating mugs around Qingming Festival will keep you from getting sick all year round". Aizan is a traditional snack of Hakka people in Tomb-Sweeping Day. It is made by mashing wormwood and adding boiled wormwood water and glutinous rice flour. Then wrap the prepared stuffing into the dough and seal it and steam it out.
During the Qingming Festival, most places in eastern Fujian, both urban and rural, have the custom of eating pickled mustard tuber. It is said that eating mustard rice mixed with rice on February 2 every year can prevent scabies all year round. There is also the custom of cooking loach noodles for ancestors on March 3.
Tomb-Sweeping Day has the custom of eating prickly heat in both north and south of China. "Zanzi" is a kind of fried food, crisp and delicate, and was called "cold ware" in ancient times. The custom of forbidding fire and cold in the Cold Food Festival is not popular in most parts of China, but the prickly heat related to this festival is deeply loved by the world.