PUTIAN, CHINA - FEBRUARY 20: <br />
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Mans back Beaten With Thorny Iron Ball during Ceremony <br />
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Half-naked men beat their backs with the iron balls full of steel nails during the \"Da Tie Qiu\" (Beat with iron ball) event at Baitang Town on February 20, 2017 in Putian, Fujian Province of China. Villagers in Putian hold the \"Da Tie Qiu\" event on Feb 24 in lunar calendar to commemorate Qi Jiguang, a national hero in Ming dynasty. During the event, selected unmarried men baring their upper bodies and feet sit on the knife-made palanquins and beat their backs with thorny iron balls. Beating back with an iron ball stuck with 360 steel nails is said to encourage men to guard the safety of their home and country.<br />
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