BEIJING, April 3 (Xinhua) -- Virtual tomb-sweeping has gained more acceptance among the Chinese, data from the Ministry of Civil Affairs showed.

The Qingming Festival, or Tomb-Sweeping Day, which falls on Tuesday this year, is a traditional Chinese holiday for people to pay tribute to the dead and worship ancestors. Sunday is the first day of the three-day Qingming Festival holiday.

On Sunday, 6.95 million Chinese virtual memorial ceremonies on 2,304 online platforms, growing by 275.7 percent from a year earlier, said the ministry.

Meanwhile, 5.83 million people had traditional tomb-sweeping ceremonies across the country on the day, 69.8 percent less than the previous year.

The ministry said the number of people who will go to the cemeteries is likely to be at high levels for the next two days of the holiday, and people shall pay attention to local COVID-19 and transportation information to stay safe.