A devotee of the Chinese Bang Neow Shrine, with two plastic guns pierced through his cheeks, takes part in a street procession celebrating the annual vegetarian festival in Phuket September 29, 2014. The festival, featuring face-piercing, spirit mediums and strict vegetarianism celebrates the local Chinese community's belief that abstinence from meat and various stimulants during the ninth lunar month of the Chinese calendar will help them obtain good health and peace of mind. (Photo by Damir Sagolj/Reuters)

A devotee sits with lighted oil lamps while offering prayers during the “Dashain”, Hinduism's biggest religious festival in Bhaktapur October 3, 2014. Hindus in Nepal celebrate victory over evil during the festival by flying kites, feasting, playing swings, sacrificing animals and worshipping the Goddess Durga as well as other gods and goddess as part of celebrations held throughout the country. (Photo by Navesh Chitrakar/Reuters)

Festival goers plays in mud during the 15th Annual Boryeong Mud Festival at Daecheon beach in Boryeong, about 190 km (118 miles) southwest of Seoul, July 15, 2012. About 2 to 3 million domestic and international tourists visit the beach during the annual mud festival, according to the festival organisation. (Photo by Chung Sung-Jun)

A girl in a vamire costume poses for pictures during the traditional park picnic on the first day of the annual Wave-Gotik Treffen, or Wave and Goth Festival, on May 17, 2013 in Leipzig, Germany. The four-day festival, in which elaborate fashion is a must, brings together over 20,000 Wave, Goth and steam punk enthusiasts from all over the world for concerts, readings, films, a Middle Ages market and workshops. (Photo by Marco Prosch)

Yulin, a city in southern China, celebrates the summer solstice by throwing a festival that involves the slaughter and consumption of as many as 10,000 dogs. Not everyone in China supports such practices, however; 65-year-old Yang Xiaoyun, a retired teacher who runs an animal shelter in Tianjin, traveled more than 2,400 km (1,500 miles) and spent more than 7,000 yuan ($1,100 or €990) to save 100 dogs from certain death.

Doesn’t taking a nap in a hammock outdoors sound lovely? Perhaps not when you’re hanging in the air, thousands of feet above ground, between two mountains in the Italian Alps! Which is exactly what these adventurous folks did during the International Highline Meeting in Monte Piana, Italy. (Photo by Sebastian Wahlhuetter Photography)

A long-tailed macaque grabs a necklace from a statue during the annual Monkey Buffet Festival at the Pra Prang Sam Yot temple in Lopburi, north of Bangkok November 30, 2014. The festival provides food and drinks to the local monkey population, which numbers more than 2,000, to thank them for drawing tourists to the town. (Photo by Damir Sagolj/Reuters)

Revelers celebrate the Indian festival of Holi on a boat cruise around part of Manhattan on March 17, 2012 in New York City. During the Hindu festival of Holi, also known as the Festival of Colors, which marks the arrival of spring, participants throw colored powder and water on one another. Many of the New York participants are Indian-American. (Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images)