A person in Thailand prays for good fortune on the eve of the Lunar New Year (Sakchai Lalit/AP)

01 February 2022

In Pictures: Colourful celebrations as people across world mark Lunar New Year

01 February 2022

People around Asia have ushered in the Year of the Tiger as they celebrated the Lunar New Year with colourful decorations, dancing, tributes to their ancestors and prayers for good fortune.

It is the third Lunar New Year since the start of the Covid-19 outbreak, and again celebrations were more subdued than usual.

A woman takes a selfie in front of decorations to celebrate the Lunar New Year in Hong Kong (Vincent Yu/AP) (AP)

A worshipper prays to mark the Lunar New Year at a temple in Jakarta, Indonesia (Achmad Ibrahim/AP) (AP)

Each year is named after one of the 12 signs of the Chinese zodiac in a repeating cycle.

The Year of the Tiger follows the Year of the Ox.

Worshippers pray during the Lunar New Year celebrations in Hong Kong (Vincent Yu/AP) (AP)

The Lunar New Year is marked at a temple in Indonesia (Dita Alangkara/AP) (AP)

Not surprisingly, depictions of the tiger featured heavily in this year’s decorations, some traditional and others more modern, like robotic-themed tigers at a shopping centre in Beijing.

In the Japanese capital, the Tokyo Tower was illuminated in red with a display to celebrate the diplomatic relationship between Japan and China.

Robotic-themed tigers on display in Beijing (Andy Wong/AP) (AP)

The Tokyo Tower was illuminated in red to celebrate the diplomatic relationship between Japan and China (Koji Sasahara/AP) (AP)

In Cambodia, ethnic Chinese people performed a traditional dragon dance in Phnom Penh, while people prayed for good fortune at the Tai Hong Kong Shrine in Bangkok, Thailand.

A dragon dance is performed in Cambodia to mark the Lunar New Year (Heng Sinith/AP) (AP)

North Korean refugees and their family members mark the Lunar New Year in South Korea close to the border (Ahn Young-joon/AP) (AP)

In North Korea, people visited statues of former leaders in Pyongyang. In South Korea, North Korean refugees visited the Imjingak Pavilion near the border dividing the Korean peninsula to pay tribute to their ancestors.

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