Countless hungry and restless ghosts are roaming Hong Kong – and the world – to visit their living ancestors, at least according to Chinese convention.
In traditional Chinese belief, the seventh month of the lunar year is reserved for the Hungry Ghost festival, or Yu Lan, a raucous celebration marked by feasts and music. This year, the festival began on August 10. According to folklore, the ghosts who wander the physical world are ravenous and envious after dying without descendants or because they were not venerated by relatives who are still alive.
Here’s a gallery of images from this year’s Hungry Ghost Festival by AP photographer Vincent Yu.