STRIKING IMAGES FROM AROUND ASIA

Up, up and away – a man rests under a sky of bright red lanterns at a school in China.

Going for gold – ex-Khmer Rouge carry a statue at a former prison that has been converted into a temple in Kampot province in southwest Cambodia.

All dolled up – a young girl checks her make-up during a child model competition in China.

Show me the money – a craftsman wears 10,000 yen bills on his head while painting a daruma doll, believed to boost financial luck during the Daruma Ichi festival in Japan.

Beware the banana – passengers walk past a plastic banana skin display at a subway station in Shanghai.

Pretty in pink – children in costume carry auspicious banners to usher in the Chinese New Year of the Pig at a shopping mall in Hong Kong.

Best foot forward – a model dips her feet into a tank containing the oreochromis species of “cleaner” fish as part of a beauty treatment in Singapore.

Letting it rip – Thailand’s Boontham Sriboontong shows off his gleaming muscles at the Thai-Cambodian Friendship Bodybuilding Competition 2007.

Coming clean – men fervently pray to the gods as they bathe in ice-cold water as part of a Shinto purification process at Tokyo’s Teppozu Inari shrine.

Walking into the sunset – monks stroll across the famous 200-year-old U Bein’s Bridge near Mandalay.