Celebrations for the Nine Emperor Gods Festival took place across Southeast Asia, with ritual fire walks, dishes of vegetarian food and the burning of massive joss sticks.The nine-day Taoist festival is widely observed by Chinese communities in Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand. Devotees often abide by a strict vegetarian diet during the event, which is known as the Vegetarian Festival in Thailand.Events occurred throughout Southeast Asia — from capitals to tourist havens like Phuket, Thailand, and Penang, Malaysia — despite a thick layer of haze blanketing the region.Taoism, or…READ FULL ARTICLE
