LHASA -- Celebrations marking the traditional Shoton Festival, or Yogurt Festival, began in Lhasa, capital of Southwest China's Xizang autonomous region, on Sunday.

At around 7 am, nearly 100 monks from the Drepung Monastery in Lhasa carried out the enormous rolled-up thangka painting of Buddha and then spread it on a platform on the hillside for sunning, which signaled the start of the festival.

"The sunning of the giant thangka is a symbol of good health and a smooth career," said Ngawang Chozin, the 58-year-old deputy director of the monastery management committee.

A long queue of people presented white hadas, a traditional Tibetan scarf symbolizing purity and auspiciousness, to the giant thangka.

A tourist surnamed Jin wore thick clothes and spent the night in a tent as he waited to welcome the giant thangka.

"When the cloth cover was lifted, the image of the Buddha gradually emerged from bottom to top. I had to step back to see the grandeur of the entire thangka," said Jin, 50, from Sichuan province. "The sight was so breathtaking."

The Shoton Festival, celebrated mainly in Lhasa, originated in the middle of the 11th century and was among the first to be inscribed on China's national list of intangible cultural heritage in 2006. During the festival, local residents taste yogurt, go on picnics and attend traditional events such as Tibetan opera performances and horse racing.

This year, in addition to Saturday and Sunday, residents in Lhasa will have a holiday on Monday to celebrate the festival.