A man in a traditional Treasury God costume hands out red packets, the lucky money, at the annual Chinese New Year Parade in the Chinatown, Washington, D.C., on Feb. 21, 1999. (Photo : Getty Images)
While the Spring Festival is the most important holiday for the Chinese people, this year's Lunar New Year has become a universal celebration.
In Europe, many countries are taking part in the festival, including France, Britain and Belgium. Citizens are visiting Manchester's Chinatown, which is home to the U.K.'s second largest Chinese community.
There are several themed events and activities besides hundreds of lanterns being put up in major commercial strips and town hall plazas, ready to be lit on the night of Feb. 12.
According to Anne Latham, a manager of House of Fraser department store, this year's celebration is bigger than last year's.
Speaking to CCTV News, Latham said: "Every year in Manchester, we celebrate Chinese New Year. This year we've gone bigger than last year, the whole city has gotten behind it and we all celebrate it. The House of Fraser this year has really joined in the culture because our sister company is Chinese, so we'd like to make sure that we're involved in every way."
Many activities including dumpling making, a parade, and writing with Chinese brushes have been held in Brussels and Paris.
On the other hand, children from the Chinese American families in America put on monkey face paint and masks to welcome the Year of the Monkey. In addition, they performed an act from the Beijing Opera classic "Journey to the West."
Meanwhile, Universal Studios Hollywood's celebration of the Chinese New Year has drawn crowds from all over the globe.
In South Africa, a dinner party has been held at the Chinatown area of Cape Town, with Chinese people and locals attending the party marked by Chinese-style food.
According to CRI English, Manuela Lotti, one of the attendees in the party, said: "It's just wonderful to be together with our Chinese community in Cape Town. The food was amazing. The atmosphere was wonderful. Everybody was so excited."
