From prayer rituals at temples in Taipei and Bangkok to incense offerings and vibrant lion dances in Beijing, hundreds of millions of people across Asia yesterday celebrated the Lunar New Year, ushering in the Year of the Snake.
In Taiwan yesterday morning, people of all ages poured into temples to make offerings of fruit, sweets, crackers and nuts.
“Our tradition is to visit the temple and pray, for better fortune for this year,” said Chen Ching-yuan, 36, as she visited Longshan Temple (龍山寺) in Taipei’s Wanhua District (萬華) with her mother.
Photo: Annabelle Chih, Reuters
“There’s no need to ask for anything specific, just wish for a smooth, peaceful, safe and healthy year, and pray that everything goes well,” Chen said.
Some temple-goers ushered in the new year by racing to be the first to light incense in the pursuit of good fortune.
“I didn’t want to look back with regret when I’m old, so I decided to go for it,” Kao Meng-shun said at Fusing Temple (福興宮) in Yunlin County’s Siluo Township (西螺).
Photo: Ritchie B. Tongo, EPA-EFE
In China, people enjoy eight consecutive public holidays for the Spring Festival, an opportunity to share meals, attend traditional performances and set off fireworks.
Train stations and airports across the country have been jam-packed for weeks as millions returned home to spend the holidays with their loved ones in an annual migration that is expected to be a record.
Temples and parks in Beijing yesterday were full with people braving freezing temperatures to bid farewell to the Year of the Dragon with dancing and prayers.
Photo: Reuters
High streets, shopping malls, offices and homes were bedecked in festive red banners — believed to ward off evil — throughout many parts of East and Southeast Asia, including South Korea, Singapore, Vietnam and Thailand.
In Bangkok, throngs of locals and tourists made their way to Wat Mangkon Kamalawat, the capital’s most revered Chinese temple.
Built in 1871 by immigrants from southern China, the temple marks its 154th anniversary this year and remains a key worshiping site for the Thai-Chinese community.
Photo: AP
Sasakorn Udomrat, 56, has been coming to the temple for eight consecutive years.
“I have many Thai-Chinese friends who say this temple is very sacred,” she said. “I don’t ask for anything in particular, just good health.”
Another worshiper Nawarat Yaowanin, 42, said that “according to the Chinese calendar, it’s a brewing year for me.”
“I came here to pay my respects and hope to ward off bad luck,” she said.
Crowds also filled the streets in the Philippine and Indonesian capitals for vibrant lion dance parades.
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An Akizuki-class destroyer last month made the first-ever solo transit of a Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force ship through the Taiwan Strait, Japanese government officials with knowledge of the matter said yesterday. The JS Akizuki carried out a north-to-south transit through the Taiwan Strait on Feb. 5 as it sailed to the South China Sea to participate in a joint exercise with US, Australian and Philippine forces that day. The Japanese destroyer JS Sazanami in September last year made the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force’s first-ever transit through the Taiwan Strait, but it was joined by vessels from New Zealand and Australia,
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