By KEN MORITSUGU, Associated Press
BEIJING (AP) — Firecrackers popped, drummers and dancers paraded and incense was offered Wednesday at temples around Asia and farther afield as millions around the world celebrated the Lunar New Year.
From Beijing to Hanoi and Moscow, the holiday — known as the Spring Festival in China, Tet in Vietnam and Seollal in Korea — is a major festival celebrated by diaspora communities around the world. Wednesday marks the start of the Year of the Snake, one of 12 animals in the Chinese zodiac.
A woman in a traditional costume prays on the first day of the Chinese Lunar New Year at Lama Temple in Beijing on Wednesday, Jan. 29, 2025. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila)
People holding incense sticks pray on the first day of the Chinese Lunar New Year at Lama Temple in Beijing on Wednesday, Jan. 29, 2025. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila)
Worshippers visit a temple to pray on the first day of the Lunar New Year celebrations in Taipei, Taiwan, Wednesday, Jan. 29, 2025. (AP Photo/Chiang Ying-ying)
A Malaysian ethnic Chinese family takes picture on the first day of Lunar New Year at Guandi Temple, in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Wednesday, Jan. 29, 2025. (AP Photo/Vincent Thian)
Malaysian ethnic Chinese pray on the first day of Lunar New Year at Guandi Temple, in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Wednesday, Jan. 29, 2025. (AP Photo/Vincent Thian)
Chinese people offer candles and pray at a temple during their New Year day of the Snake at Chinatown in Yangon, Myanmar, Wednesday, Jan. 29, 2025. (AP Photo/Thein Zaw)
A woman touches bells for luck as people gather at the Ditan Temple Fair on the first day of the Chinese Lunar New Year in Beijing on Wednesday, Jan. 29, 2025. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila)
People pray on the first day of the Lunar New Year at Quan Su pagoda in Hanoi, Vietnam Wednesday, Jan. 29, 2025. (AP Photo/Hau Dinh)
People place incenses at Quan Su pagoda on the first day of the Lunar New Year in Hanoi, Vietnam Wednesday, Jan. 29, 2025. (AP Photo/Hau Dinh)
A performer juggles plates during a presentation at the crowded Ditan Temple Fair on the first day of the Chinese Lunar New Year in Beijing on Wednesday, Jan. 29, 2025. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila)
Chinese artists perform a lion dance at the Dongyue Temple on the first day of the Chinese Lunar New Year in Beijing on Wednesday, Jan. 29, 2025. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)
People watch as an artist performs an acrobatic lion dance at the Dongyue Temple on the first day of the Chinese Lunar New Year in Beijing on Wednesday, Jan. 29, 2025. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)
An Ethnic Chinese Thai lights joss sticks at Trai Mit Temple to celebrate the Lunar New Year in Bangkok, Thailand, Wednesday, Jan. 29, 2025. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)
Ethnic Chinese Thais pray at Leng Nuei Yee Temple to celebrate the Lunar New Year in Bangkok, Thailand, Wednesday, Jan. 29, 2025. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)
Worshippers burn incense sticks to pray at a temple on the first day of the Lunar New Year celebrations in Taipei, Taiwan, Wednesday, Jan. 29, 2025. (AP Photo/Chiang Ying-ying)
Show Caption1 of 15A woman in a traditional costume prays on the first day of the Chinese Lunar New Year at Lama Temple in Beijing on Wednesday, Jan. 29, 2025. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila)
ExpandIn Beijing, throngs of people in down jackets filled a park on a chilly day to ring in the new year. Some rang bells and tossed coins into containers in the shape of gold bars for good luck, while others ate traditional snacks from food stalls and took photos with a person dressed up as the God of Wealth.
The Lunar New Year is a time to wish for good luck and prosperity in the coming year for oneself and others.
“The past year was a very busy one for me, because I had to take care of both my kid and my work,” said Beijing resident Jiang Hecang. “In the Year of the Snake, I wish my kid will grow healthily and my work can remain stable. Then I can be happy enough.”
In Malaysia, the pop-pop-pop of firecrackers greeted the new year outside Guan Di temple in the capital, Kuala Lumpur, followed by lion dances to the rhythmic beat of drums and small cymbals.
Ethnic Chinese holding incense sticks in front of them bowed several times inside the temple before sticking the incense into elaborate gold-colored pots, the smoke rising from the burning tips.
Hundreds of people lined up on the eve of the Lunar New Year at the Wong Tai Sin Taoist temple in Hong Kong in a bid to be among the first to put incense sticks in the stands in front of the temple’s main hall at 11 p.m.
“I wish my family will be blessed. I hope my business will run well. I pray for my country and wish people peace. I hope this coming year is a better year,” said Ming So, who visits the temple annually for the late-night ritual.
Many Chinese who work in bigger cities return home during the eight-day national holiday in what is described as the world’s biggest annual movement of humanity. The exodus turns Beijing, China’s capital, into a bit of a ghost town, with many shops closed and normally crowded roads and subways emptied out.
Traditionally, Chinese have a family dinner at home on New Year’s Eve. On the Lunar New Year, many visit temples to pray and attend temple fairs to watch performances and buy snacks, toys and other trinkets.
“I bring my children here to experience the atmosphere, because the New Year atmosphere … is fading,” Beijing resident Wang Xinxin said at a temple fair at Ditan Park, the former Temple of Earth in the Ming and Qing dynasties.
“Children like mine don’t have much idea what New Year was like in Beijing before, but here we can still see some elements of it,” Wang said.
The government has curtailed non-official celebrations, with major cities outlawing the noisy firecrackers that once reverberated around Beijing and left it enshrouded in smoke.
Many Chinese take advantage of the extended holiday to travel both in the country and abroad. Ctrip, an online booking agency that operates Trip.com, said the most popular overseas destinations this year are Japan, Thailand, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Singapore, Australia, the United States, South Korea, Macao and Vietnam.
In Moscow, Russians cheered, waved and took smartphone photos of a colorful procession with drummers, costumed dancers and large dragon and snake figures held aloft that kicked off a 10-day Lunar New Year festival on Tuesday night.
The Chinese and Russian governments have deepened ties since 2022, in part to push back against what they see as U.S. dominance of the world order.
Visitors shouted “Happy New Year” in Russian and expressed delight at being able to experience Chinese food and culture in Moscow, including folk performances and booths selling snacks and artwork.
Cuba’s small Chinese community celebrated the Lunar New Year on Tuesday night with a parade of glowing lanterns and dragons winding their way through the narrow streets of Chinatown.
The island was once home to one of the largest and oldest Chinese communities in the Americas. Now, a much smaller community celebrates major holidays with a Cuban twist, blending rum and cigars with traditional Chinese cuisine.
Associated Press video journalists Wayne Zhang in Beijing, Alice Fung in Hong Kong and Syawalludin Zain in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, contributed to this story.
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