The Year of the Snake officially began with the Chinese New Year celebrations and prayers.
In a bid to be among the first to place incense sticks in the stands in front of the temple’s main hall, hundreds of people gathered in the Wong Tai Sin Taoist temple in Hong Kong just before midnight.
The holiday is a significant festival that communities around the world celebrate by referring to as the Spring Festival in China, Tet in Vietnam, and Seollal in Korea. The snake, one of 12 animals in the Chinese zodiac, follows the just-ended Year of the Dragon.
The sound of firecrackers greeted the new year outside Guan Di temple in Malaysia’s capital, Kuala Lumpur, on Wednesday, followed by lion dances to the rhythmic beat of drums and small cymbals.
The incense was poured into elaborate gold-colored pots by ethnic Chinese men who were holding them, bowing repeatedly inside the temple before sprinkling it with smoke from the burning tips.
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.
Beijing, China’s capital, has turned into a bit of a ghost town, with many shops closed and normally crowded roads and subways emptied out.
Russians greeted, waved, and took pictures of a colorful parade that included drummers, costumed dancers, and tall dragon and snake figures as they awaited the 10-day Lunar New Year celebration in Moscow on Tuesday night.
Source: Aljazeera
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