Family of 6,000 gathers

traits Times, April 7, 2010

TAIPEI - AROUND 6,000 members of the same family gathered in Taiwan for a traditional festival to honour their ancestors, a newspaper reported on Tuesday.

The Yeh family travelled from as far afield as the United States, Australia and Brazil to Taiwan's northern county of Taoyuan for the Tomb-Sweeping Festival, the Apple Daily said.

The crowd thronged a square in front of the family tomb and surrounding roads, burning nearly 10 tonnes (22,000 lbs) of ritual paper money and setting off hundreds of firecrackers in honour of the dead.

Taiwanese faithful believe burning paper money - and everything from cars to computers made of paper - will ensure their ancestors are comfortable in the after-life, and lighting firecrackers will scare off evil spirits. -- AFP.