Laba Festival marked in China

Volunteers prepare Laba porridge for sanitation workers in Taizhou City, east China's Zhejiang Province, 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/Wang Huabin)