China bids farewell to the Year of the Dragon and welcomes the Year of the Snake
It is the main annual holiday in China and for many Asian countries, as well as an occasion for domestic tourism.
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Spectators watch the lion dance.
Hundreds of millions of people across Asia commemorate the start of the Lunar New Year on Wednesday with family dinners, fireworks, and mutual wishes for prosperity as they bid farewell to the Year of the Dragon and welcome the Year of the Snake.
In China, the 2025 Spring Festival brings an eight-day holiday, a traditional period for travel. As a result, railway stations are packed with people visiting their families, with this year's travel surge potentially setting a new record.
Streets, shopping malls, office buildings and homes are festooned with red banners, believed to ward off evil, in much of East and Southeast Asia, such as South Korea, Singapore, Vietnam and Thailand.
On Wednesday morning in Taiwan, people of all ages flocked to the island's temples with offerings of fruit, sweets, cookies and nuts to meditate and pray.
"Our tradition is to visit the temple and pray for good fortune this year," explained Chen Ching-yuan, 36, at Taipei's Longshan Temple where he went with his mother.
Some temple visitors welcomed the new year by burning incense for good fortune.
Lin Yu-soon, 73, arrived with her family at the temple. "On the first day of the lunar year, we visit the temple and take a little hike. That's it. Coming here gives us spiritual comfort as we pray," Lin told AFP.
Record travel in China
In the traditional 40-day period before, during and after the Lunar New Year in mainland China, some 9 billion inter-provincial trips by all modes of transport are expected.
Such mobilization by rail and air are anticipated to reach "record levels" this year, according to the state-run Xinhua news agency.
In South Korea, heavy snowfall disrupted train, bus and air travel across the country as people traveled to visit their families.
At Seoul's main station, passengers were seen with gifts and suitcases waiting to leave the capital.
But images released by local media showed snow-covered vehicles on roads paralyzed by heavy blizzards and snowfall.
Authorities warned that it could take more than seven hours to get from Seoul to the port city of Busan, a drive that usually takes about four hours.
Others opted to take advantage of the holiday to travel abroad. The operator of Incheon International Airport announced that more than 2.1 million passengers would use that terminal to leave South Korea from Jan. 24 to Feb. 2.
"It is projected to be the highest daily average number of passengers for a Lunar New Year since the airport opened" in 2001, the operator said in a statement.
Even Chinese astronauts Cai Xuzhe, Song Lingdong and Wang Haoze sent greetings Tuesday from the Tiangong space station.
In a video released by the China Manned Space Agency, the three are shown holding paper figures with the Chinese character "fu," for good luck.
"In the new year, may all your dreams come true," Wang said, forming a heart with his hands.
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