The Year of the Horse: Chinese New Year Celebrations Around the World
The Year of the Horse: Chinese New Year Celebrations Around the World
1 minute read
Dancers perform a fire dragon dance in the shower of molten iron spewing firework-like sparks during a folk art performance to celebrate the traditional Chinese Spring Festival on the first day of the Chinese Lunar New Year, which welcomes the Year of the Horse, at the Happy Valley amusement park in Beijing January 31, 2014. REUTERS/Kim Kyung-Hoon (CHINA - Tags: ANNIVERSARY SOCIETY TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY)KIM KYUNG-HOON—REUTERS
Friday, January 31 marks the beginning of the Spring Festival, the literal translation of the celebration of Chinese New Year. For two weeks, families around the world will gather for commemorations with dances, fireworks, meals, gifts of money in red envelopes (both physical and digital) and decorations with handwritten poetry, culminating with the Lantern Festival on the 15th day of the first month in the lunar year.
Each year in the Chinese calendar has a corresponding zodiac animal, and today marks the turnover from the Year of the Snake to the Year of the Horse. Here’s a look at Chinese New Year celebrations around the world.
Performers dance at the 2014 Cathay Pacific International Chinese New Year Night Parade on Jan. 31, 2014 in Hong Kong.Lam Yik Fei—Getty ImagesWorshippers burn incense to pray for good fortune on the first day of the Chinese Lunar New Year, which welcomes the Year of the Horse, at Dafo temple in Chongqing municipality, Jan. 31, 2014. Shi Tou—ReutersFireworks illuminate the skyline to celebrate Chinese Lunar New Year of Horse and cause severe air pollution on Jan. 30, 2014 in Beijing.Feng Li—Getty ImagesFireworks explode in a street of Shanghai on the eve of Chinese New Year on Jan. 30, 2014. Peter Parks—AFP/Getty ImagesA Lion Dancer takes a break during a practice session on Jan. 29, 2014 in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. Nicolas Axelrod—Getty ImagesDancers perform a fire dragon dance in the shower of molten iron spewing firework-like sparks during a folk art performance to celebrate the traditional Chinese Spring Festival on the first day of the Chinese Lunar New Year, which welcomes the Year of the Horse, at the Happy Valley amusement park in Beijing January 31, 2014. REUTERS/Kim Kyung-Hoon (CHINA - Tags: ANNIVERSARY SOCIETY TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY)KIM KYUNG-HOON—REUTERSA man sets off fireworks as residents celebrate the start of the Chinese New Year in Shanghai, Jan. 31, 2014. Carlos Barria—ReutersFireworks illuminate a residential area to celebrate Chinese Lunar New Year of Horse and cause severe air pollution on Jan. 30, 2014 in Beijing.Feng Li—Getty ImagesA man films the fireworks display using his phone in Chinatown, on the eve of Chinese New Year in Manila, Philippines, Jan. 30, 2014. George Calvelo—NurPhoto/CorbisWorshippers burn incense and pray at the Wong Tai Sin Temple to welcome the Chinese New Year of the horse in Hong Kong on Jan. 30, 2014.Philippe Lopez—AFP/Getty ImagesThe London Eye is lit in red and gold on the eve of the Chinese New Year in London on Jan. 30, 2014.Leon Neal—AFP/Getty ImagesIndonesian performers dressed as mermaids wearing traditional Chinese cheongsam dress perform underwater in a special program celebrating the Lunar New Year at Jakarta's Ancol park on Jan. 31, 2014. Romeo Gacad—AFP/Getty ImagesA Visitor passes the trees decorated with red lanterns at the Spring Festival Temple Fair for celebrating Chinese Lunar New Year of Horse at the Temple of Earth park on Jan. 30, 2014 in Beijing.Feng Li—Getty ImagesFolk dancers hold horse models as they prepare to take part in a traditional horse dance on the first day of the Chinese Lunar New Year, which welcomes the Year of the Horse, at the Longtan park in Beijing Jan. 31, 2014.Kim Kyung-Hoon—ReutersVisitors view a performance at a temple fair celebrating the Lunar New Year, known as the Spring Festival, in Zhengzhou, capital of Central China's Henan Province, Jan. 31, 2014. Li An—Xinhua Press/CorbisA man dressed as a Qing Dynasty emperor performs in a reenactment of an imperial ritual ceremony praying for good harvest in the coming year at the Temple of Earth park on the Spring Festival in Beijing Jan. 31, 2014. Alexander F. Yuan—APPerformers dance during a temple fair to celebrate the Spring Festival, or the Chinese Lunar New Year, in Beijing, Jan. 31, 2014. Li Jundong—Xinhua/Sipa USAA man prays for good fortune while holding incense on the first day of the Chinese Lunar New Year at Petak Sembilan Temple, in Jakarta, Jan. 31, 2014. Beawiharta—Reuters
