Laba Festival marked in China

A volunteer feeds Laba porridge to an elderly woman at a nursing home in Anping, north China's Hebei Province, on the Laba Festival on Jan. 13, 2019. The Laba porridge is made from a dozen varieties of grains including glutinous rice, millet, Chinese sorghum, peas, dried lotus seeds, and red beans. "Laba" falls on the eighth day of the 12th lunar month. The Laba Festival is considered a prelude to the Spring Festival, or Chinese Lunar New Year, which falls on Feb. 5 this year. Chinese people believe the festival meal of Laba congee bears the auspicious meaning of a shared wish for harvest and abundance. (Xinhua/Li Xiaoguo)