Through the lens: Eye on Asia for the fourth week of August

Ethnic Karens practice the traditional wrist-tying ceremony to protect against illness before a performance at Myanmar's National Race Village in Yangon on Aug. 17. Photo by AP

Chinese eat hotpot in a Chongqing air-raid shelter on Aug. 15, when the city's weather bureau issued a red alert over high temperatures, forcing locals to look for ways to escape the summer heat.  Photo by Getty Images

Thai Prime Minister-elect Paetongtarn Shinawatra and her father, former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, arrive at the Pheu Thai Party headquarters ahead of a royal endorsement ceremony in Bangkok on Aug. 18. Photo by Thai Government House via Reuters

Nepalese Hindu novices take part in the monthly Janai Purnima festival, during which devotees take holy baths and change the sacred thread (janai) worn across their chest for protection and purification, at the Pashupatinath Temple in Kathmandu on Aug. 19. Photo by Reuters

Guests at the ceremonial grounds of the State Palace in front of the Garuda Palace during celebrations of Indonesia's 79th Independence Day in the future capital of Nusantara in East Kalimantan province on Aug. 17. Photo by AFP/Jiji    

A taxi splashes though a Kolkata street on Aug. 20 following heavy monsoon rains. Photo by Getty Images

Indian fisherfolk dance during a procession for Narali Purnima, a festival to offer the sea god Varuna rice, flowers and coconuts to keep the upcoming fishing season safe and prosperous, in Mumbai on Aug. 19. Photo by Reuters

Water dwellers at Cambodia's Tonle Sap Lake. Photo by Ken Kobayashi

Indian women demonstrate in Guwahati on Aug. 16 following the rape and killing of a trainee doctor at a government hospital in Kolkata the previous week. Photo by AP 

Indonesians shinny up greased poles to collect prizes at the top during a competition for Independence Day in Jakarta's Ancol area on Aug. 17. Photo by Reuters

A Chinese honor guard marches during a welcome ceremony for Vietnamese President To Lam at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on Aug. 19. Photo by Reuters

A resident of Sanya in China's Hainan province burns paper offerings to honor ancestors during the Zhongyuan Festival (Hungry Ghost Festival) on Aug. 18. Photo by Getty Images

Chinese escape scorching heat at the Wanpingkou Beach in Rizhao, Shandong province, on Aug. 17. Photo by Getty Images