China - Fujian - a Buddhist religious pilgrimage and festival

"Haka festival procession with Buddha weaving its way through village in a thunderous blaze of fireworks. The festival, which is called in Chinese "Miao Hui" takes place only once every 8 years for the Que Ken Ba Village. Villagers go to Chao Tian Yan temple to carry the Guan Yin Buddha (God of Mercy) back to their village's temple. (Sept.19-22 is the festival time, chinese calender) keep for a year, to protect the villagers, bring them good luck, happiness and fortune. At the end of the year, Sept.19 following year, the village send back the Buddha to Chao Tian Yan temple, and another village will carry it to their village's temple. there are 8 villages in this festival, so by turn, every village get a chance every 8 years. Chao Tian Yan temple dates back 700 years ago. The special festival has started since then, was only stopped for around 20 years because of (Photo by In Pictures Ltd./Corbis via Getty Images)