A woman surnamed Duan, who visited the monastery with her 72-year-old mother, said it has become a tradition for her family to go there to celebrate Laba Festival.

"The influence of the event is growing, and it is obvious that an increasing number of young people are coming to celebrate the traditional festival," she said.

Tan Jihe, a distinguished researcher at the Sichuan Academy of Social Sciences, said laba was originally a day to express gratitude for a good harvest and to make sacrifices to ancestors. Locals started the tradition of having porridge on laba as early as 2,000 years ago.