People visit a giant thangka exhibition to mark the start of the annual Shoton Yogurt Festival on Friday in Lhasa. [Photo by Palden Nyima/chinadaily.com.cn]

Thousands of Tibet autonomous region residents braved the rain to pay homage to giant thangka -religious images embroidered in silk -to mark the start of the annual Shoton, or Yogurt Festival, on Friday in Lhasa, capital of Tibet.

Continuous rain early in the morning and hot sun afterwards did not stop people from finishing the pilgrimage.