Tomb-Sweeping Day, or Qingming Festival, is a time to honor dead loved ones.

Starting this year, the festival has been designated as a public holiday. Still, many have chosen to show their respect in the cyber world instead of going out to the cemetery.

Some Internet users told the Beijing News that online memorial services are more environmentally-friendly than the conventional practice of burning money as offerings at grave sites. Some said since the festival has become a public holiday, traffic will be a big problem, so paying one's respects online is an easier way of remembering the dead.

Many funeral homes have launched Web sites for those who are unable to visit grave sites, and online memorial halls offer services such as virtual flowers, memorial messages and tribute songs.

But the new move has triggered controversy. Some opponents to online mourning argue that the most effective way to keep traditions alive is to give people time to observe the day by physically sweeping tombs.

The newspaper said online services will only commercialize this tradition and go against the public will to make the occasion a public holiday.