Tibetannet

Tibetans celebrate the Ongkor Festival in Shannan, southwest China's Tibet Autonomous Region.(Xinhua/Purbu Tashi)

 In the highland barley fields of Tibet, as the crops ripen in the late summer, farming families celebrate a festival that began more than a thousand years ago.

The Ongkor Festival - marked when the harvest is just around the corner - usually falls in August between the fifth and sixth month of the Tibetan calendar.

Farmers celebrate the Ongkor Festival in the Yarlung Valley in Shannan, southwest China's Tibet Autonomous Region.(Xinhua/Purbu Tashi)

During the festival, farmers pray for good weather and a bumper harvest. It is most popular in Lhasa and the Xigaze and Shannan prefectures.

Across Tibet, the climate varies according to the altitude and so does the ripening time for the highland barley. The actual date of the Ongkor Festival also depends on the maturity of the crops so each village celebrates at a different time.

Farmers celebrate the Ongkor Festival in the Yarlung Valley in Shannan, southwest China's Tibet Autonomous Region.(Xinhua/Purbu Tashi)

Ongkor is Tibetan for "looking around the field", and the celebrations are often held in the fields. The typical celebration begins with everyone - young and old - dressing in their festive costumes. On their backs, they carry rolls of sutras as well as food such as tsampa (a roasted flour specialty) and highland barley wine.

People celebrate the Ongkor Festival in a village in the Lhasa valley in southwest China's Tibet Autonomous Region.(Xinhua/Purbu Tashi)

Chanting prayers or singing folk songs, their elders lead them in a line through the fields, burning cypress twigs and leaves to pray for good times, a good harvest and prosperity.

Finally, they gather in an open area to sing, dance and drink wine, and to celebrate with activities such as horse racing and tug-of-war.

A man shoots an arrow as part of the Ongkor Festival celebrations in the Yarlung Valley in Shannan, southwest China's Tibet Autonomous Region.(Xinhua/Purbu Tashi)