How to Scare Your Ancestors
No, it’s not a statue; it’s a real bull, painted all over as part of a Chinese festival.
The “tradition” arose among the Hani people as a way of protecting their homes from tigers. Today it’s an annual festival in which 48 times from China, Laos and Vietnam compete for the best painted bull.
The Hani, a Chinese minority, worship nature spirits and their own ancestors. One would imagine that the sight of a cow covered in toxic paint would be enough to scare off not only any nearby tigers but all your ancestral spirits, too!