​Year of the Horse: Celebrations for Chinese New Year

People marked the arrival of a new lunar year, the year of the horse, generally considered an auspicious time, across China, Hong Kong and Taiwan on Thursday evening. According to traditional Chinese timekeeping, 11 pm on the eve of the Lunar New Year is an ideal moment visit a temple to pray and put incense sticks in place. The hope is to bring as much good fortune for the coming year as possible. Yet, it was on Friday morning that thousands of people streamed into Buddhist and Taoist temples, many of which held fairs and stage performances. Celebrations marking the Chinese New Year, or as it is literally called "Spring Festival" (Nongli Xinnian), traditionally continue for two weeks.