At the Laba Festival each year, to drink a bowl of rice porridge at the major Buddhist temples of Hangzhou has become a way for those of Hangzhou to “preserve the holiday.”

    According to sources, this year the temples may not serve porridge inside monastery walls, but may rather donate to the porridge to the elderly, welfare organizations, sanitation workers and people with disabilities (although the program has not been finalized). It may be partly taken to various neighborhoods and communities, scattered and multifaceted.