Tourists in Xi'an break bowls for good fortune

As a traditional ritual when greeting distinguished guests in Langao County, Shaanxi Province, guests are required to raise a full bowl of rice wine above his or her head with two hands and make a wish, drink the rice wine in one shot, and then throw the bowl to the ground while saying "Suisui Ping'an" (Peace all year around). Suisui, which means broken in Chinese, has similar pronunciation of the word for year. Locals believe that the broken bowls can drive away bad luck.

Though some people think it's a waste to break a perfectly good bowl after just one use, there's no denying that it's a good promotion, since cheap rice wine and ceramic bowls have brought great fortune to the seller.