XI'AN,
May 1 (Xinhuanet) -- Visiting Chinese Kuomintang (KMT) party Chairman Lien Chan
paid homage to his grandmother's tomb Sunday in Xi'an, northwest China's Shaanxi
Province.
The Lien family, including Lien
Chan, his wife, their two sons, a daughter and son-in-law, arrived at the
graveyard on Qingliang Hill in Chang'an county on the city's outskirts at 9:22
a.m. More than 20,000 local residents voluntarily gathered there to greet them,
some holding banners reading "Hello, Brother Lien".
The family followed the
traditional Chinese ritual, featuring classical memorial music, incense burning,
bows and offering of liquor and fruits. A master of ceremonies read aloud an
elegiac address, which expressed the family's love of the grandmother,
nostalgia, and regret for not being able to sweep her tomb in the past six
decades.
At the end of the hour-long
ceremony, Lien said this first visit of the Lien family to the grandmother's
tomb in 60 years is "of great significance" and "forever unforgettable". He also
spoke in the dialect of southern Fujian Province to his late grandmother, who
spoke only in that dialect.
Before he left, Lien wrote an
inscription for the graveyard and led his family to bid the grandmother goodbye.
Lien's grandmother moved to Xi'an
from Shanghai in the 1940s and lived close to Qingliang Hill. A friendly and
warm-hearted lady, she was a regular visitor to the Qingliang Temple, burning
incense and helping the monks to cook. Her tomb is next to the temple and a Mr.
Wang in Xiangjisi village of Chang'an county was entrusted in 1991 to renovate
the tomb. It has been taken good care of.
Xi'an
is the third leg of the eight-day mainland tour by the KMT delegation. They are
leaving for Shanghai later on Sunday.