People in many parts of the World are celebrating the Lunar New Year. The event, which marks the rise of the first moon in the lunisolar calendar, is also of importance to the Asian diaspora who, though living overseas still observes the ancestral traditions.
Major events are taking place mainly in China, Japan, the Korean peninsula and various south-east Asian countries, with people wearing traditional outfits, visiting temples and gathering with families.
This year’s celebrations have been hampered by the continuous fight against the coronavirus pandemic, which is still causing local authorities to maintain COVID-induced measures.
A dancer performs in Chinatown in Bangkok on 11 February 2021, ahead of the start of the Lunar New Year, which ushers in the Year of the Ox on 12 February.
Two lion dancers prepare to pray at a Chinese temple on the first day of the Lunar New Year in Kuta, on Indonesia's resort of Bali on 12 February 2021.
People wear traditional Chinese outfits as they walk in Chinatown in Bangkok on 11 February 2021 ahead of the start of the Lunar New Year, which ushers in the Year of the Ox on 12 February.
A family take a picture in front of a bull sculpture at a mall in Beijing on 11 February 2021, ahead the biggest holiday of the year, the Lunar New Year, which ushers in the Year of the Ox on February 12.
People watch Lunar New Year fireworks while wearing protective masks to prevent the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) as they wait to enter a temple in Taipei, Taiwan, 12 February 2021.
People wearing masks for protection against the coronavirus disease, pray inside a temple in Chinatown during Lunar New Year in Manila, Philippines, 12 February 2021.
A worker packs dried incense sticks in a courtyard ahead of Lunar New Year celebrations in Quang Phu Cau village outside Hanoi, Vietnam, 3 February 2021.
Women hold incense sticks while on a car after visiting a temple to mark the start of the Lunar New Year in Ta Khmao, Kandal province in Cambodia on 12 February 2021.
A woman wearing a traditional outfit burns incense and prays at Ma Zhu Miao temple on the first day of the Lunar New Year of the Ox in Yokohama's Chinatown area in Japan on 12 February 2021.
A man sits in the middle of his merchant stall at the Spring Festival Flower Fair in Hong Kong.
Hundreds of red lanterns light up Li Tong Avenue ahead of the start of the Lunar New Year.
A Vietnamese woman carries her child next to a cut-out illustration of a monk advising visitors to wear face masksat the Tran Quoc Pagoda, one of the oldest pagodas in Hanoi on 12 February 2021 on the first day of Lunar New Year or Tet celebrations.
People look at a giant ox lantern in a park in Wuhan in China's central Hubei province on 11 February 2021, ahead of the start of the Lunar New Year, which ushers in the Year of the Ox on 12 February.
Devotees offer incense sticks at a temple to mark the start of the Lunar New Year in Ta Khmao, Kandal province on 12 February 2021.
A girl wearing a protective mask and face shield, holds incense sticks while praying with her mother at the Surya Dharma temple during the Chinese Lunar New Year celebrations in Pekanbaru, Riau province, Indonesia, 12 February 2021 in this photo taken by Antara Foto.
A worker handles dried incense sticks in a courtyard ahead of Lunar New Year in Quang Phu Cau village outside Hanoi, Vietnam, 3 February 2021.
Banknotes are seen on Tiger sculptures at Dharma Bhakti temple during Chinese Lunar New Year celebrations, amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak, in Jakarta, Indonesia, 12 February 2021.
People take a selfie as China Town prepares for Chinese Lunar New Year, in London, Britain 11 February 2021.
