Tourists in Mount Hengshan Share Laba Porridge to Welcome the New Year

The "Thousand Monk Pot", with a diameter of 2.36 meters, 1.8 meters high and a weight of 5.6 tons, stood in front of the main hall of the Grand Temple of Mount Hengshan on January 19. Savoury Laba porridge cooked in it attracted many tourists and local people. Laba porridge is a kind of Chinese traditional food eaten on the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month (the Laba Festival).

Nanyue District of Hengyang City in Hunan Province held a public welfare charity activity "Welldoings in the World & Warmth of the Laba Festival" in the Grand Temple of Mount Hengshan. On the spot, the staff gave each tourist and citizen a bowl of hot Laba porridge, wishing them healthy, peaceful and good luck in the new year.

Tourists and citizens who prayed for eating Laba porridge stood in long lines. Before sharing the Laba porridge, many tourists posed for a group photo.

President of Buddhist Association of Nanyue District Shi Dayue said that the Laba porridge cooked in the "Thousand Monk Pot" was made of rice collected from various families, and thus it was named "Happiness & Longevity Porridge". More than 27,000 yuan raised on the spot was donated to the poor as well.