Due to the fact that the Chinese New Year is being celebrated according to the lunar calendar, it doesn't have a fixed date, so this year it fell on the new moon on February 16. Traditionally, the celebrations continue several days, ending with the Lantern Festival.
The Lunar New Year (an unofficial name of the Chinese New Year) is being celebrated around the world.
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People pray with incense sticks to celebrate the Lunar New Year, marking the Year of the Dog, at the Longhua temple in Shanghai.
© AFP 2023 / Johannes Eisele
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Chinese people walk in a maze at the Tang Paradise Park in Xian, Shaanxi province ahead of the coming Lunar New Year, marking the Year of the Dog.
© AFP 2023 / Fred Dufour
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Folk artists perform a fire dragon dance under a shower of sparks from molten iron, ahead of the Chinese Lunar New Year, in Shangqiu, Henan province, China.
© REUTERS / Stringer
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A man and a woman pose with their dog among ice sculptures during Lunar New Year celebrations in Pyeongchang, South Korea.
© REUTERS / Eric Gaillard
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Ethnic-Chinese offers prayers and burn incense for good luck on the first day of the Lunar New Year at Sin Sze Si Ya Temple in Kuala Lumpur's popular Chinatown area on February 16 marking the start of the Year of the Dog.
© AFP 2023 / Manan Vatsyayana
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People discard incense into a cauldron as they pray on the first day of the Lunar New Year at the Lama Temple in Beijing.
© AP Photo / Mark Schiefelbein
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A couple kiss below Chinese lanterns during a countdown welcoming the Chinese Lunar new year in Binondo district, metro Manila, Philippines.
© REUTERS / Dondi Tawatao
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A professional diver wears an underwater Prosperity God costume, while swimming inside an aquarium, as part of their show celebrating Chinese New Year at Manila Ocean Park (MOP) in Metro Manila, Philippines.
© REUTERS / Romeo Ranoco
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Exiled Tibetan Buddhist monks in ceremonial hats play long horns as they conduct early morning prayers to welcome their New Year called Losar in Dharmsala, India.
© AP Photo / Ashwini Bhatia
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Dancers with traditional Pekin Opera costume, prepare to parade near Tang Paradise park in Xian, Shaanxi province.
© AFP 2023 / Fred Dufour
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Visitors place incense sticks into a pot at a Chinese temple to mark the start of the Lunar New Year in Kuta near Denpasar on Indonesia's Bali island.
© AFP 2023 / Sonny Tumbelaka
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Giant panda cubs play with decorations during an event to celebrate Chinese Lunar New Year of Dog, at Shenshuping Panda Base in Wolong, Sichuan province, China.
© REUTERS / Stringer
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A Thai girl is dressed in traditional Chinese clothing during a Warm Welcome ceremony to Chinese tourists for the Lunar New Year at Don Mueang International Airport in Bangkok, Thailand.
© REUTERS / Soe Zeya Tun
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Shoppers look at decorative stuffed toy dogs for sale at a shop on the eve of the Lunar New Year in the Chinatown district in Singapore.
© AFP 2023 / Roslan Rahman
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A farmer tends peach blossom flowers for sale ahead of the Vietnamese "Tet" (Lunar New Year festival), in a field in Hanoi, Vietnam.
© REUTERS / Kham
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A Chihuahua dog wearing a costume made of recyclable materials is seen in Chinatown, in Mexico City.
© AFP 2023 / Yuri Cortez
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An Ethnic-Chinese devotee burns joss-sticks and offers prayers at the Thean Hou temple decorated with red lanterns in Kuala Lumpur on the eve of the Lunar New Year marking the start of the year of the dog.
© AFP 2023 / Manan Vatsyayana
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Dancers wearing costumes as terracotta warriors, prepare to parade near Tang Paradise park in Xian, Shaanxi province.
© AFP 2023 / Fred Dufour
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Tibetan people gather to celebrate Loshar, Tibetan New Year, in Kathmandu, Nepal. Tibetans across the world marked the arrival of the New Year with prayers and festivities.
© AP Photo / Niranjan Shrestha
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South Koreas chief of the Korean Sport and Olympic Committee Lee Kee Heung attends a traditional ceremony with other olypic officials and athletes marking the Lunar New Year, at the South Korea house in the Gangneung Olympic Park.
© AFP 2023 / Ed Jones
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Chinese National Rao Wei poses with a Chinese flag during a fireworks display over the Hudson River to kick off Chinese New Year celebrations in Manhattan, New York, US.
© REUTERS / Andrew Kelly