Celebrating a Robin Hood-like folk hero

Carrying the golden statue of a revered ancient general, villagers in eastern China dash wildly through waterlogged fields in a mud-spattered celebration of a local rebel adored for stealing from the rich to give to the poor.

Spurred on by the roar of firecrackers and cheers of families crowded on muddy banks, teams of men splash through the quagmire, in a centuries-old ceremony that was part of the lead up to the Lantern Festival on Saturday.

It is a time for colorful ceremonies in the coastal province of Fujian, where the Hakka people have long held on to their folk traditions.