Butter lamp festival lights up a new year in Qinghai(1/7)

Believers light butter lamps at Taer Monastery in northwest China's Qinghai Province, Nov. 21, 2019. (Xinhua/Wu Gang)

The Butter Lamp Festival celebrates the beginning of a new year on the Tibetan calendar and is an occasion to pray for happiness and good health by lighting butter lamps. This year's festival falls on Thursday.

Each butter lamp stands for a blessing: Local tibetans pray for their families on the Butter Lamp Festival which marks the beginning of a new year in Qinghai, NW China.

A believer lights butter lamps at Taer Monastery in northwest China's Qinghai Province, Nov. 21, 2019. (Xinhua/Wu Gang)

Photo taken on Nov. 21, 2019 shows lit butter lamps at Taer Monastery in northwest China's Qinghai Province. (Xinhua/Wu Gang)

A man arranges butter lamps at Taer Monastery in northwest China's Qinghai Province, Nov. 21, 2019. (Xinhua/Wu Gang)

Believers light butter lamps at Taer Monastery in northwest China's Qinghai Province, Nov. 21, 2019. (Xinhua/Wu Gang)

Believers light butter lamps at Taer Monastery in northwest China's Qinghai Province, Nov. 21, 2019. (Xinhua/Wu Gang)

Photo taken on Nov. 21, 2019 shows lit butter lamps at Taer Monastery in northwest China's Qinghai Province. (Xinhua/Wu Gang)