PHOTOS: Tibetan Buddhists Make Winter Pilgrimage

Hu Guoqing is an award winning photographer based in Guangdong. A recent photo essay by Hu shows pilgrims trekking through heavy snow to make their winter spiritual journeys. Buddhists in the autonomous region begin their pilgrimage to Lhasa around this time of year as Spring Festival approaches on the Tibetan calendar, according to ECNS.

Pilgrims walk through the snow

Pilgrims walk through the snow

Nuns play in the snow

Pilgrims on their way to Lhasa

Pilgrims on their way to Lhasa

Pilgrims walk through the snow

Pilgrims walk through the snow

Monks gather to pray

A woman carries her prayer wheel in the snow

A devout pilgrim offers up his prayers in the snow

[Images from PhotoInter via China Daily]