Shoton Festival Celebrated in Tibet

Xodoin Festival Celebrated in Tibet

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Tens of thousands of Tibetans gathered on the gentle slope in front of the Drepung Lamasery, three kilometers northwest of Lhasa, Sunday to celebrate the beginning of the annual Shoton Festival (Sour Milk Drinking Festival).

The Xodoin Festival, which is also called the Tibetan Opera Festival, is held each year on the first day of the seventh month on the Tibetan calendar, and last four to five days. Shoton means "yogurt banquet."

The festival began with a display of a huge silk embroidered cloth picture of Sakyamuni, the founder of Buddhism, and people presenting hadas, silk scarves regarded as a token of respect for Sakyamuni.

The display of the silk picture of Sakyamuni also attracted numerous journalists and visitors from home and abroad. Zhang Benbiao, an amateur photographer from Shanghai, said that he used five rolls of film in 30 minutes to record the amazing scene.