00:02In China, Qingming Festival or Chum Sweeping Day is a traditional occasion for remembering ancestors and paying tribute to the
00:12deceased.
00:13Ahead of this year's festival, which falls on Sunday, I've come to Hua Wu, a small village in Jiangxi province.
00:22On the hill behind the village in this forest, there are 17 pine trees, each marked with a stone slab
00:29bearing the name of the person who planted it.
00:32Each year, villages come up here to pay their respects on Chum Sweeping Day.
00:38This tradition has been maintained for more than 80 years.
00:55The pine trees were planted by 17 young men who joined the Red Army during the Chinese Revolution in the
01:02early 1930s.
01:03All were from Hua Wu village, which consisted at the time of only 43 households.
01:09The soldiers held on to hope that, no matter what happened, the pine trees would remain to watch over their
01:15loved ones.
01:22None of the soldiers made it back, with all 17 sacrificing their lives in the revolution.
01:28The youngest was only 13 years old.
01:31The pine trees, however, have taken root in the hearts of the villagers.
01:35This tree was my little boy's father.
01:39He was only 15 years old.
01:41He was only 15 years old.
01:42When he was home, he saw a few times in the house.
01:46He said, he'll come back to the house.
01:47He'll come back to the house.
01:49He'll come back to the house.
01:49But he'll come back to the house.
01:52He'll come back to the house.
01:53Every year on the Christmas Eve,
01:54we would always be able to come back to the small village.
01:58He'd never be able to wake up.
01:59For 49-year-old Hua Sheng, and many other villagers,
02:04the soldiers' names and stories are deeply engraved in their hearts.
02:09These are all our villagers.
02:11We can't forget.
02:12We're Hua Wu.
02:13We have a rule.
02:14We have a rule.
02:15We have a child.
02:17We have a child.
02:17We will come back to the small village.
02:19We will talk to our grandparents.
02:22We will talk to our grandparents.
02:24We will talk to our grandparents.
02:25We will talk to our grandparents.
02:26Ninety years ago, Hua Wu was an impoverished village of mud houses and dirt roads.
02:32Today, the thriving village boasts paved roads, new houses, and a growing tourism industry.
02:39Generation after generation,
02:41the people of Hua Wu have found their own ways to protect these pines
02:45and to preserve a much-cherished memory.
02:49That is, because our lives are very poor.
02:51We are always going to buy money.
02:54We buy money.
02:55But only for these 17 trees.
02:58We are not so fast.
03:00We are not so hungry.
03:01No one will be a human.
03:05We have the same.
03:06We're from now to the深圳.
03:07We will come back all year.
03:08Every year we will come back to our grandparents.work
03:11our grandparents. Remember
03:13our grandparents. No
03:13one has already. No
03:14one is our house. No
03:17one has now. We
03:20don't get to our kids. We
03:21never have the same for our children. The
03:23same for our children, There
03:28is.
03:28You
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