BEIJING -- China saw dropping traffic flow Saturday, the first day of a three-day Tomb-sweeping Day holiday, according to the traffic management authority.

As of 4 pm, the volume of traffic for the past 24 hours dropped by 16 percent year-on-year based on statistics from 200 monitoring sites across the country, said the traffic management bureau under the Ministry of Public Security.

In the meantime, no traffic accidents involving more than five deaths were reported and major highways as well as main routes did not see any large-scale traffic jams.

The Tomb-sweeping Day, also known as the Qingming Festival, is an important occasion for the Chinese to visit cemeteries, sweeping tombs and pay tribute to the dead and worship their ancestors.

This year, many "tomb sweeping" activities are done virtually on the internet to control the COVID-19 epidemic.