Photos: Water Sprinkling Festivals celebrate New Year

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People celebrate the water-sprinkling festival in Mangshi City of Dehong Dai-Jingpo Autonomous Prefecture, southwest China’s Yunnan Province, April 12, 2015. The annual water-sprinkling festival kicked off here on Sunday. (Xinhua/Hu Chao)

Communities throughout China and Southeast Asia celebrated the Water Sprinkling Festival this week, which marks the start of the New Year in the Dai Autonomous Prefecture in Xinshuangbanna in southwest China’s Yunnan Province,as well as in Thailand, Cambodia and Myanmar. The holiday is a traditional folk activity where well-wishers (and sprayers) hope for good fortune and safety.