In pictures: Chinese New Year celebrations

Hundreds of millions of people around the world celebrate the Lunar New Year

Most may silently observe the dates change, others may turn to lighting fireworks and showering loose confetti to usher in the new year. The Chinese, however, hold elaborate cultural performances and week-long celebrations to welcome the new year.

Here we look at a series of photographs as the Chinese welcome the year of the rooster.

Children use makeshift dragon dancer's costume as they perform in front of vendors on the eve of Lunar New Year in Manila's Chinatown, Philippines. PHOTO: REUTERS

People watch fireworks explode from a rooftop on the eve of the Chinese Lunar New Year, or the Spring Festival, in Mengcheng, Anhui province, China. PHOTO: REUTERS

A man looks at his phone as fireworks explode on the eve of the Chinese Lunar New Year, or the Spring Festival, in Lianyungang, Jiangsu province, China. PHOTO: REUTERS

Dancers perform a lion dance in front of a temple as they celebrate the Lunar New Year in China Town, in Yokohama, south of Tokyo, Japan. PHOTO: REUTERS

Children play with fire crackers on the eve of the Chinese Lunar New Year, or the Spring Festival, in Lianyungang, Jiangsu province, China. PHOTO: REUTERS

A nurse takes care of newborn babies wearing Chinese traditional costumes to celebrate the Chinese New Year at the nursery room of Paolo Chockchai 4 Hospital, in Bangkok, Thailand. PHOTO: REUTERS

Kim Chi Tran (R), next to her son Thai An, looks for the grave of a relative killed during the Vietnam War, ahead of the Vietnamese lunar new year (or Tet) when it is tradition to visit the graves of loved ones, at the Viet-Laos national cemetery in Nghe An province, Vietnam. PHOTO: REUTERS

People walk on a street decorated with Chinese lamps to celebrate the Lunar New Year in Bangkok, Thailand. PHOTO: REUTERS

Passengers wait to board trains at Shanghai's Hongqiao Railway Station. PHOTO: REUTERS

Railway workers get ready to take a group picture with some New Year decorations at the Beijing Railway Station. PHOTO: REUTERS

A boy tries to lift a suitcase at the departure hall of the Beijing Railway Station in central Beijing. PHOTO: REUTERS

A girl prays with incence sticks at the Longhua temple in Shanghai. PHOTO: AFP

Divers wearing rooster headgear perform an underwater dragon dance performance at the S.E.A. Aquarium at Resorts World Sentosa in Singapore on January 25, 2017 ahead of the forthcoming Lunar New Year. PHOTO: AFP

People enjoy riding on the ice of the Houhai frozen lake ahead of the Lunar New Year in Beijing. PHOTO: AFP

A shopper takes photographs of Chinese lantern decorations at a shopping mall in Kuala Lumpur. PHOTO: AFP

A Malaysian-Chinese boy (C) wears a rooster costume during the opening ceremony of the Lantern and Flora Festival ahead of the upcoming Lunar New Year celebrations at Fo Guang Shan Dong Zen Buddhist Temple in Jenjarom, west of Kuala Lumpur. PHOTO: AFP

Customers browse flowers at the Victoria Park New Year Flower Market in Hong Kong. PHOTO: AFP

A general view shows crowds of people visiting the Victoria Park New Year Flower Market in Hong Kong on January 27, 2017, on the eve of the Lunar New Year holiday . PHOTO: AFP

Thean Hou Temple decorated with red lanterns is reflected in a window in Kuala Lumpur on January 27, 2017 on the eve of the Lunar New Year. PHOTO: AFP

A group of people perform the traditional dragon and lion dance through the streets during the first day of the Lunar New Year in Yangon's Chinatown district. PHOTO: AFP

A light show illuminates the Chinese Arch and surrounding buildings in Liverpool, north west England. PHOTO: AFP

People pray with incence sticks at the Longhua temple in Shanghai. PHOTO: AFP

Ethnic Malaysian-Chinese devotees offers prayers and burn joss-sticks at the Sin Sze Si Ya Temple on the first day of the Lunar New Year in Kuala Lumpur's popular Chinatown. PHOTO: AFP