The 12-animal zodiac of the Chinese calendar is an enduring symbol of one of the globe's most important annual festivals. Yet, for many families, cultural customs are giving way to modern-day conveniences.
More people in the East and West now choose to hold celebrations and reunion dinners in restaurants, instead of at home. Change is inevitable, however, and as Viroj Tangvarnich, a Bangkok-based expert on Chinese culture, explains: "What really counts are good intentions."
Despite its evolution, the lunar new year - chunjie or Spring Festival in China
In homes across China , Australia , the US , Singapore , Malaysia , Vietnam , Britain , the Philippines , Thailand and India
The Year of the Rabbit will be welcomed with a bang and three weeks of celebrations across Australia
"New year is still very important to Chinese whether they were born here or moved here from China Sydney 's Chinatown or Little Bourke Street in Melbourne
Celebrations in Sydney Melbourne Australia
"The celebrations remind Chinese of their heritage, and for the non-Chinese is a bridge towards better understanding," said Yen.
Nowhere in the world outside China is the lunar new year celebrated so widely as in Vietnam
The 70-year-old widow lives with one of her 10 children in the southern city of Vung Tao Vietnam
Lunar new year festivities in Vietnam are similar to Spring Festival in China Vietnam
The giving of "lucky money" to children and the elderly is also a tradition here. The most auspicious envelopes contain odd numbers of notes to symbolize long life and prosperity.
Three performances of Peking opera, traditional Chinese songs and dance routines will usher in the new year, with galas scheduled in London 's Trafalgar Square and Lyceum Theatre on Feb 6 and 7 respectively, and in Edinburgh
Celebrations for Spring Festival in the UK Trafalgar Square held in 2002. Every year, the festivities include events in Leicester Square and Chinatown , which attract about 300,000 people, said Wu Guoqiang, chairman of the London Chinatown Chinese Association.
A series of activities have also been organized to commemorate the centenary of Cao Yu, the great Chinese playwright and a pioneer of modern Chinese drama in the early 20th century. A photographic exhibition and a film will debut at the Brunei Gallery in the school of Oriental
Food is a massive part of the lunar new year, but traditional reunion dinners are fast becoming a rare sight in homes, albeit for practical reasons.
Freddy Lee, a 30-year-old business development director, said his dinner will be at a restaurant to make the most of the time available to catch up with family. He returns to Kuala Lumpur , the nation's capital, from his home in Singapore
"With my parents getting older, it makes sense not to spend too much time preparing a meal and spending more time talking," said Lee. "Things have definitely become more commercial and the spirit of the festival is also less important now. The real benefit is being able to see our loved ones."
However, he admitted he misses the lavish spread of home-cooked food of his childhood. "Perhaps when I have my own family, it will revert to the old times," he added.
For Malaysian Chinese, lunar new year has always been about spending time with family. "It's precisely the long duration away from home that for some workers in the city keeps the new year spirit alive," said retiree Edward Yong, 56. Like in China
For many Thais of Chinese heritage, the lunar new year has become an unabashed public display of identity, as well as a mainstream, commercialized event. Department stores rake in revenue with special promotions, as shoppers splurge with "lucky money". Small to medium-sized businesses owned by Chinese Thais will close for at least three days.
Prasit Ongwatana, chief organizer of this year's Yaowaraj Chinatown's two-day street festival, said that, as in previous years, Princess Chakri Sirindhorn will preside over the Feb 3 ceremony. "Chinese Thais have become so well integrated in society that we no longer feel embarrassed or self-conscious celebrating the new year," he said. "Residents of Yaowaraj Road take pride in our strict adherence to the authentic ancient Chinese customs."
However, Viroj Tangvarnich, an expert on Chinese culture, said not every Chinese Thai is staying true to religious and cultural observances. "It's not uncommon to see Chinese new year food offerings that consist of, say, KFC fried chicken or store-bought pork jerky. Whatever today's people like to eat is considered fit for offering."
Spring Festival has become a key time for networking for Asians living and working in the US China and the US
Asian American Bar Association in New York organizes a large banquet every year to welcome the new year, which offers a good opportunity to show Asian American lawyers that "they're not alone", said executive director Yang Chen.
"We represent 4,000 Asian attorneys. When you're working at a firm with mostly White lawyers, you might feel somewhat isolated," he said. "Last year, 500 attorneys, judges and prosecutors come to our event. It allows Asian Americans to build a network and exchange ideas. Our dinner is a way to showcase Asian American talent."
Meanwhile, all 65 workers at Suntech Power's factory in Arizona
Peter Wee is a fourth generation Peranakan - descendents of 15th and 16th century Chinese immigrants, mostly of Hokkien ancestry, who married Malay and Indonesian spouses in the Nusantara region - and has run the two-story Katong Antique House (part-shop, part-Peranakan museum) for 30 years.
For this 65-year-old, the reunion dinner on lunar new year eve is an elaborate and important tradition. "We set up the ancestral altar and place Peranakan food like fruits and wine on it. This is an act of remembering our past," he said.
The family then eats the same food for their reunion dinner, which Wee insists, "has to be held at home". Having it in a restaurant takes away the meaning of the tradition, he said. "Besides having dinner at home, it is vital that people eat traditional food. Young people these days are losing a sense of history and culture".
The banners are being fixed, the symbolic red lanterns made ready and the dragon dancer are lining up. Even as their once burgeoning community shrinks in size, Chinese in Kolkata hope the Year of the Rabbit will be a year of revival for them.
This year, the lunar new year will be celebrated with the usual dancing, music and stage performances. Yet, for many, Sunday's celebrations offer a chance for younger generations to get back in touch with their cultural roots.
Kolkata's Chinese community has shrunk from about 50,000 to just 4,000 in the past two decades, although it is still the largest compared with other cities in India , Bangladesh , Pakistan and Nepal
"I'm Chinese but Indian influence on me and my children is strong," said Paul Lin, 61, a second-generation Indian Chinese who manages the family leather business. "The new year celebration is an opportunity to come together and make the next generation aware of their culture."
The Philippines
There is a Chinese belief with Buddhist origins that lighting incense at new year brings luck and blessings. The Filipino Chinese twist has been to combine Buddhism with the Catholic custom of visiting churches.
"Some Chinese also do a kind of church visit," said Ari Dy, a Catholic priest with the Society of Jesus. "They go to several temples on new year's eve, offer incense and pray for blessings."
Chinese born and raised in the Philippines are locally called Chinoys (a combination of the Tagalog words "Chino
As well as dragon dances in Chinatowns nationwide, there is an exhibition on Chinese-Philippine relations at Manila 's Bahay Tsinoy Museum and a grand parade planned for the northern city of Baguio
"Things are a lot different from the days when lunar new year was an all-Chinese affair. Chinese new year is now a public celebration," added Dy.
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