Picturing the Times

Girls with flowers on their heads at a celebration for the traditional Ngarot festival in West Java,Indonesia,on December 13,2023.The festival is a traditional ceremony to welcome the rice planting season.(ALGI FEBRI SUGITA)

The Forbidden City is shrouded in pristine white snow thanks to Beijing’s first winter snowfall on December 11,2023. (VCG)

Lanterns are released during the Yee Peng (Full Moon Festival) & Loy Kratong (Ritual Vessel or Lamp Floating Festival) in Chiang Mai,Thailand,on November 27,2023.In northern Thailand,Loy Krathong coincides with Yee Peng on the full moon night of the 12th month of the Thai lunar calendar.On the date,Buddhists thank the Goddess of Water and River or worship the Holy Buddha’s hair pagoda in heaven. (GUILLAUME PAYEN)

People from the Miao ethnic group in traditional costume play the Lusheng (a reed-pipe wind instrument) to celebrate the Lusheng Festival in Congjiang County,Guizhou Province,on December 2,2023. (VCG)