Images of the Lunar New Year: The World Honors the Year of the Dragon
Families, festivities and pilgrimages to temples to seek blessings marked the start of the Lunar New Year on Saturday around Asia.
The most significant yearly celebration in China is the Lunar New Year when people get together with friends and family and indulge in lavish feasts. The Chinese zodiac has 12 signs and each year is named after one of them. The current year is the Year of the Dragon which is regarded as the most fortunate sign in Chinese societies.
The Year of the Dragon is also a popular year to give birth for Chinese because many couples hope their children will possess remarkable qualities symbolized by dragons including strength, power and success.
In celebration of the beginning of the year many Hong Kong locals wore red which is considered lucky in Chinese culture. They enjoyed rice cakes and turnip cakes at parties and married relatives would bless the kids with red envelopes loaded with cash. Photographic opportunities for attendees were provided by floral arrangements and outdoor exhibits set up for the celebration.
Temple festivals in Beijing attracted large groups of people who came to watch traditional folk acts and purchased food and artwork from stations. Many incense sticks are lit as a form of prayer for wealth and health.
The holiday is observed by Chinese communities living abroad as well as in South Korea, Vietnam and the Greater China region’s mostly Chinese societies.
Worshippers went to temples in Malaysia and Myanmar to ask for blessings and good fortune. Exiled Tibetan monks celebrated their new year with rites in Dharamshala, India.
