In Beijing's Babaoshan cemetery, the air is thick with the smell of rotten fruit -- the decaying tributes to the dead left by family and friends.

Even on weekdays the cemetery is crowded as the thousand-year-old tomb sweeping day, Qingming festival which falls on April 5 this year, is drawing near.

Zhang Chengjuan, a woman in her 50s, wipes clear the tombstone of her parents, places flowers on the tomb, lays home-made cakes in front of the tombstone, and lines up with her brothers and sisters to bow to the tomb.

Meanwhile on memorial website babaoshan.com.cn, run by the Beijing Funeral Administration, registered members offer "flowers," "wine" and "songs" or light candles for their loved ones -- with a click of the mouse.

Though the time-honored tradition of tomb-sweeping in the graveyard shows no sign of decline, the high-profile promotion of virtual memorials marked this year's Qingming holiday season.

The Ministry of Civil Affairs has thrown its weight behind the promotion of tsingming.com, which was launched Wednesday. As well as memorials, the website is a platform to disclose funeral-related information, and post advertisements for funeral companies.

Babaoshan.com.cn, launched in 2005, was revamped this year to attract more users. Registered members can "build" virtual monuments for their beloved ones, where they give virtual offerings, upload pictures of the deceased, and write tributes.

At the monument for Mr. and Ms. Li Baoyou, their children Li Guiming, Li Fenglan, and grandchild Xiaoyu logged in Tuesday to honor them.

Li Guiming offered "wine" and left a message. Li Fenglan "lit" a candle and posted, "May Mom and Dad rest in peace in the celestial city."

Li Fenglan also posted an essay in memory of their parents, saying at the end, "Mom and Dad, I would like to be your child forever, if there truly were such thing as an afterlife."

Jiang Xiaogang, spokesman for Beijing Funeral Administration, says more than 700 Internet users have set up online monuments on the website.

And the revamped website has registered much more clicks this year. "The website has had 34,000 clicks since February, almost 30 times the number of the annual clicks in previous years."

The on-line memorial is promoted as a low-carbon way of mourning, as people do not have burn energy traveling to the graveyard.

The Qingming season is usually a major headache for transport authorities, as people and vehicles swarm to cemeteries. Many take trains or fly back to their hometowns for tomb-sweeping.

Zhu Yong, deputy director of a research institute under the Ministry of Civil Affairs, said more than 400 million people, 30 percent of the population, were engaged in tomb sweeping activities in 2009.

The figure this year is not available, as the peak is expected to come this weekend.

Some people burn offerings, such as mock paper money, "clothes" and "houses," to the dead, in a symbolic offering to another world.

As the spring is dry and windy, burning offerings on a field or a shrubby hill where tombs are usually situated is a fire hazard.

Many see novelty offerings on the market, such as mock paper women labeled "mistress" and mock wedding certificates to movie stars, as tarnishing the tradition.

As a result, the government has long been promoting civilized memorial practices, online tomb sweeping being an ideal alternative.

However, many oppose online memorials as disrespectful to ancestors, and fear a distinct Chinese custom could be diminished.

Chen Lianshan, a Peking University professor of folk culture, says traditional tomb sweeping is a hallmark of Chinese culture that can never be replaced by its online version.

Chen says Chinese have been paying tribute to their ancestors ever since recorded history, in the firm belief that the immortal spirits of ancestors can protect and bless their offspring.

"I myself, as an atheist, do not believe in an immortal spirit, but I respect such customs because they give Chinese people a cultural identity."

Back at the cemetery, Zhang Chengjuan, says tomb sweeping is also an event for the living to get together.

Zhang came to the cemetery with her four brothers and sisters and their spouses.

"Though we all live in Beijing, we seldom get together, because some have to babysit their grandchildren, so tomb sweeping brings us together," she says. "When we are done, we'll go to lunch to celebrate the reunion."

Qingming is also an occasion for families to travel and enjoy scenes of early spring, a tradition dating back to the Tang Dynasty, 1,300 years ago, says Chen Lianshan.

(Xinhua News Agency April 2, 2010)