Every year a few villages in Shanxi Province, north China, perform a special body piercing ceremony called Zha-Ma-Jiao, pushing steel sticks through their faces. These pictures show people from Linyi County, Shanxi Province performing the ceremony on January 31 in the hope of receiving good luck and driving away disasters over the coming year. The ceremony has been taking place annually for hundreds of years. /CFP Photo

Every year a few villages in Shanxi Province, north China, perform a special body piercing ceremony called Zha-Ma-Jiao, pushing steel sticks through their faces. These pictures show people from Linyi County, Shanxi Province performing the ceremony on January 31 in the hope of receiving good luck and driving away disasters over the coming year. The ceremony has been taking place annually for hundreds of years. /CFP Photo

Every year a few villages in Shanxi Province, north China, perform a special body piercing ceremony called Zha-Ma-Jiao, pushing steel sticks through their faces. These pictures show people from Linyi County, Shanxi Province performing the ceremony on January 31 in the hope of receiving good luck and driving away disasters over the coming year. The ceremony has been taking place annually for hundreds of years. /CFP Photo

Every year a few villages in Shanxi Province, north China, perform a special body piercing ceremony called Zha-Ma-Jiao, pushing steel sticks through their faces. These pictures show people from Linyi County, Shanxi Province performing the ceremony on January 31 in the hope of receiving good luck and driving away disasters over the coming year. The ceremony has been taking place annually for hundreds of years. /CFP Photo