Xu Xiaofeng, a staff worker at Laoshan street office, Shijingshan District got up at 5:45 am on Saturday and put on the thickest trousers and jacket she had placed neatly beside her bed as the golden rays of the sun started to warm the city.

When Xu, in her 50s, left for Babaoshan Revolutionary Cemetery at 6:15 am she was wearing many heavy layers, but she found that other pedestrians were wearing just long-sleeved T-shirts.

This is the time of year when a large number of people flock to the city's cemeteries to commemorate the dead during Tomb Sweeping Festival, and Xu is one of thousands of people who give up their weekends to help people who come to cemeteries to mourn the dead.