This is how Lunar New Year (more than Chinese New Year) is celebrated

Jan 23, 2023 at 8:32 PMUpdate: 2 minutes ago

Every year, Chinese around the world celebrate Lunar New Year, which is known as Chinese New Year. This marks the start of the new year in the traditional Chinese lunar calendar. But Lunar New Year was also celebrated this weekend in other Asian countries and continents. That’s what it looked like.

A Chinese family walks through a festively decorated market in Beijing. Lunar New Year is also known as the Spring Festival and is the most important holiday in China. The start of the new year is usually heralded between January 21 and February 20, after which there are two weeks of celebrations. Photo: ANPA woman in Beijing holds cotton candy in the shape of a rabbit. According to the Chinese, this year is the year of the Rabbit. Every year in the Chinese lunar calendar is dedicated to one of the twelve animals of the Chinese zodiac. It also forms the basis for Chinese zodiac signs. Photo: ANPLunar New Year decorations can be seen in London’s Trafalgar Square. A rabbit in the middle, symbolizing this year’s animal. Photo: ANPThe color red is central to the celebrations. Red is a symbol of happiness and prosperity in Chinese cultures. This color is also said to ward off evil spirits, so many people wear red during the festivities and decorate their homes with red. The color can also be seen in the envelopes with money that children and unmarried people receive to wish them luck for the coming year. Photo: ANPA parade was held in Washington to celebrate Lunar New Year. In addition, the dragon dance is done to drive away evil spirits and to usher in prosperous times. The dragon dance also occurs at other Chinese festivals. Photo: ANPTemple visitors in Beijing burn incense at the beginning of the Lunar New Year to pray for good luck and prosperity. Photo: ANPIn The Hague, the Nieuw Maanjaarfeest was celebrated with a parade and various performances. Chinese Dutch people form the largest group here to celebrate Lunar New Year, but the party is also celebrated by other Dutch people with Asian roots. Photo: ANPA fireworks display during a Lunar New Year celebration on the Indonesian island of Sumatra. Lunar New Year is also celebrated in other parts of the world with inhabitants with Chinese roots. In Asian countries such as Vietnam, Taiwan, South Korea, Japan, Malaysia and Indonesia, the party is often celebrated larger than in Western countries. For these countries, the Chinese lunar calendar is just as important as the solar calendar used in most countries. Photo: ANPMany fireworks are also set off in the Vietnamese capital Hanoi. There the festival is called ‘Tet’. Fireworks, like the color red, symbolize the ward off of evil spirits. Fireworks can be seen almost everywhere where Lunar New Year is celebrated. Photo: ANPOn a Chinese temple in the Thai capital Bangkok, the statues of the gods are decorated with red. Visitors thank the gods for the blessings of the past year. In order to receive the favors of the gods in the coming year, people thoroughly clean their houses and temples prior to Lunar New Year. They also try to settle as many quarrels as possible with family members, so that they experience more happiness in life. Photo: ANPIn the South Korean city of Paju, people hang ribbons from a fence near the border with North Korea. With this they pray for a reunification between North and South Korea. During the Lunar New Year festival, people not only pray for prosperity and happiness, but also for safety. Photo: ANPVisitors to a Chinese temple in the South Korean capital of Seoul take photos in hanbok, the traditional clothing of South and North Korea. Chinese Koreans also wear the hanbok to celebrate Lunar New Year. In the Asian countries where the festival is celebrated, some wear the traditional clothing of their country of origin. Photo: ANPA Chinese dragon dance in the Japanese city of Yokohama. The dragon is a symbol of wisdom and strength. People who celebrate Lunar New Year believe that the dragon brings them good luck. After fifteen days of festivities, the Spring Festival ends with the Lantern Festival. Photo: ANP