China on Saturday mourned the thousands of people who have died in the coronavirus outbreak on the day of Qingming Festival, also known as the traditional Tomb Sweeping Day in China.

This year, the whole nation took the occasion to pay tribute to the victims and first responders who sacrificed their lives during the battle against COVID-19, flying the national flag at half-mast throughout and suspending all forms of entertainment.

At 10 a.m. local time, the country observed three minutes of silence to mourn the victims, including frontline medical workers and doctors. Cars, trains and ships sounded their horns and air raid sirens wailed.

Here is the entrance to the memorial page.

In Zhongnanhai, President Xi Jinping and other Chinese leaders paid a silent tribute in front of the national flag, with white flowers pinned to their chest.

In Beijing's Summer Palace, visitors stood in place and took off their hats to observe three minutes of silence as they paid tribute to the dead.

On metros line 4, 14, 16, and Daxing line, the train whistled three times and all the staff of the station stand in silence during the mouring ceremony.

All commuters in the metro stood up in a "show of solidarity of Chinese people in face of this disaster," said Wang on his way to work.

Chinese respiratory specialist, Dr. Zhong Nanshan also paid his tribute to the medical workers who devoted their lives, saying the mourning event is "a good reminder for people to recginize and respect the contributions and sacrifices" made by this "angels with white gowns."

The coronavirus pandemic has killed 3,335 people in China as of Saturday, 3,207 of them in Hubei Province.

All traffic lights in urban areas in Wuhan, capital of Hubei Province, are turned red for three minutes. Police officers took off their caps and mourned on the street. Pedestrains all halted their steps to pay respect.

At Wuhan’s Leishenshan hospital, the second specialized hospital for treating COVID-19 patients with severe symptoms, doctors are seen mourning silently. On the streets across Wuhan, horns of automobiles, trains and ships joined in a "wail in grief" for three minutes.

The day of mourning coincided with the start of the annual Qingming Festival when millions of Chinese families travel to tend to their ancestral graves, offer flowers and burn incense.

This year, Wuhan banned all tomb-sweeping activities in its cemeteries until at least April 30 to stop public gatherings in prevention for another wave of coronavirus spread.

They have also told residents, most stuck at home due to lockdown restrictions, to use online streaming services which will allow them to watch cemetery staff carrying out those tasks live.

Some residents burned joss paper, a tradition which they believe sends money and wealth to deceased relatives, on sidewalks and within the confines of their barricaded housing compounds.

Video taken by Hui Jie, Zhang Hao

Video edited by Xu Chenlu