People across Asia have welcomed the Lunar New Year with family gatherings, festivals and temple visits to ask for blessings.
The Lunar New Year is the most important annual holiday in China, a time for reunions with relatives and friends – and to enjoy festive feasts.
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Each year is named after one of the 12 signs of the Chinese zodiac, with the 12 months ahead being the Year of the Dragon — widely considered the most auspicious zodiac sign in Asian communities.
The Year of the Dragon is also a popular time to give birth because many Chinese couples hope their children will possess remarkable qualities symbolised by dragons, including strength, power and success.
Malaysian ethnic Chinese pray on the first day of Lunar New Year’s holidays at a temple in Kuala Lumpur (Vincent Thian/AP)
Worshippers pray at a temple in Taipei (Chiang Ying-ying/AP)
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Each year is named after one of the 12 signs of the Chinese zodiac in a repeating cycle (Andy Wong/AP)
This year is the Year of the Dragon (Chiang Ying-ying/AP)
Chinese dragon dancers perform at the Dongyue Temple in Beijing (Andy Wong/AP)
People pray during the celebration at a temple in Medan, North Sumatra, Indonesia (Binsar Bakkara/AP)
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A man holds up a dragon decoration in a traditional Lunar New Year market in Hanoi, Vietnam (Huy Han/AP)
An Indonesian man lights joss sticks during the Lunar New Year celebration at a temple in Medan (Binsar Bakkara/AP)
Worshippers pray as they burn their first joss sticks to welcome the new year in Hong Kong (Louise Delmotte/AP)
Divers perform an underwater lion dance at the KLCC Aquaria in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia (Vincent Thian/AP)
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A woman takes a picture of red lanterns and decorations on display at Ditan Park in Beijing (Andy Wong/AP)
Local Chinese present a red envelope, or hongbao, to lion dance performers during a cerebration to mark the Lunar New Year in Yangon, Myanmar (Thein Zaw/AP)
