A young Hmong woman is serenaded by her boyfriend at a Hmong New Year celebration ball tossing game in Phonsavan, northern Laos
The Hmong ball tossing game (pov pob) takes place during the month long Hmong New Year celebration. Boys and girls form two parallel lines facing one another. It is OK for girls to toss the ball to other girls or to a boy, but boys cannot toss the ball to other boys. The ball must not be tossed to a someone of the same clan. The cloth ball (now often a tennis ball) is tossed back and forth, until someone drops the ball. If a participant drops or misses the ball, a present is given to the other player in the pair. These presents are recovered by singing love songs (hais kwv txhiaj) to the other player. This young lady is being courted by a Hmong man who is singing love songs (hais kwv txhiaj) to her. A man is videoing them, at the same time another person is throwing a tennis ball to the young women (for dramatic effect). This was taking place next to a ball tossing game on the fairground in Phosavan.
Size: 3400px × 5100px
Location: Phonsavan fairground, Phonsavan, Plain of Jars, Laos
Photo credit: © Neil Harris / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: asia, ball, celebration, clothing, courtship, cultural, culture, custom, cute, ethnic, friendly, happy, heritage, hilltribe, hmong, jars, laos, mong, northern, parasol, phonsavan, phonsovan, plain, serenade, serenading, smile, smiling, sunlit, sunny, tennis, tradition, traditional, year
