Coming-of-age ceremony held at No. 3 Middle School in SW China

NEIJIANG, April 23, 2016 -- Students take part in a coming-of-age rite at the No. 3 Middle School in Neijiang City, southwest China's Sichuan Province. A total of 100 18-year-old students were chosen to attend the rite, during which students wearing Han-style clothes took part in capping ceremony (for boys) and hair-pinning ceremony (for girls), respecting parents and teachers, worshipping Confucius statute and saying vows to celebrate their entering into adults. The rite is expected to make the young people to hold an idea of social responsibility. In ancient China, aristocratic males held their coming-of-age ceremonies at the age of 20 and females at 15, signifying that they were allowed to get married. (Xinhua/Liao Qiqi)