(AP Photo/David Longstreath)

A devotee of the Chinese Shrine Bang Neow has his cheeks pierced with many ceremonial swords prior to a morning street procession at the Vegetarian Festival Friday, Oct. 23, 2009, in Phuket, Thailand.
The annual festival traces its origin back to the early 1800’s when Chinese tin miners and others who had been stricken with disease recovered by adhering to a strict vegetarian diet.