Pilgrims gather for annual festival

Thousands of Tibetan pilgrims and tourists gathered for the ritual of unrolling of the thangkas - giant religious silk embroideries - in Lhasa's monasteries of Sera and Drepung on Friday at the start of the annual Shoton Festival.

The festival is held every year on the 30th day of the sixth month of the Tibetan calendar.

Wang Mei, 22, a tourist from Shandong province, said it was her first visit to the giant Buddha images in Tibet.