Geline Salac

Shoppers check a display in celebration of the Year of the Wood Snake at a shopping mall in Quezon City on January 25, 2025, days before the Lunar New year on January 29.   Gigie Cruz, ABS-CBN News

Shoppers check a display in celebration of the Year of the Wood Snake at a shopping mall in Quezon City on January 25, 2025, days before the Lunar New year on January 29.   Gigie Cruz, ABS-CBN News

Article (news)

Year of the Snake- Lunar New year

Agence France-Presse

<div><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib" style="width:960px"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/173810341579420250125-year-of-wood-snake-GCS194906.jpg" class="fr-fic fr-dib" style="width:960px"/><span class="fr-inner" style="text-align:left">Shoppers check a display in celebration of the Year of the Wood Snake at a shopping mall in Quezon City on January 25, 2025, days before the Lunar New year on January 29.   <em>Gigie Cruz, ABS-CBN News</em></span></span></span></div><p>BEIJING, China (<strong>UPDATED</strong>) -- From incense offerings and vibrant lion dances in Beijing to prayer rituals at temples in Bangkok and Taipei, hundreds of millions of people across Asia celebrated the Lunar New Year on Wednesday, ushering in the Year of the Snake.</p><p>In China, people enjoy eight consecutive public holidays for the 2025 Spring Festival, an opportunity to share meals, attend traditional performances and set off fireworks.</p><div><a class="fr-green fr-strong" href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/business/2025/1/27/celebrate-chinese-new-year-with-festive-dining-1348">Celebrate Chinese New Year with festive dining</a></div><div><a class="fr-green fr-strong" href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2025/1/28/marcos-jr-joins-filipino-chinese-community-in-celebrating-the-chinese-new-year-1755">Marcos Jr. joins Filipino-Chinese community in celebrating Chinese New Year</a></div><p>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.</p><p>Temples and parks in the Chinese capital on Wednesday were full with people braving freezing temperatures to bid farewell to the Year of the Dragon with dancing and prayers.</p><p>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.</p><div><a class="fr-green fr-strong" href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/entertainment/showbiz/events/2025/1/24/chinese-new-year-2025-lucky-dishes-and-new-outfits-to-welcome-the-year-of-the-snake-1855">Chinese New Year 2025: &#x27;Lucky&#x27; dishes and new outfits to welcome the Year of the Snake</a></div><p>&quot;When a new year comes around, I think most people hope to get rich, for work to go smoothly, and for family happiness,&quot; Yang Longhua, a catering company manager, told AFP by a frozen lake where people went to ice skate in Beijing this week.</p><p>&quot;In previous years, we were locked down because of the pandemic, so I want to take advantage of this long holiday to experience China, a better, more beautiful China,&quot; said the 26-year-old from Zhoukou, Henan province.</p><p>During the traditional 40-day period that runs before, during and after the Lunar New Year holidays, about nine billion interprovincial passenger trips on all forms of transport are expected to be made, according to state news agency Xinhua.</p><p>Train and air travel are expected to &quot;hit record highs&quot; during this year&#x27;s migration, Xinhua said, with the transport ministry saying it expects 510 million train trips and 90 million air trips during the period.</p><p>In Taiwan on Wednesday morning, people of all ages poured into temples to make offerings of fruit, sweets, crackers and nuts.</p><p>&quot;Our tradition is to visit the temple and pray, for better fortune for this year,&quot; said Chen Ching-yuan, 36, as she visited Longshan Temple in Taipei with her mother.</p><p>&quot;There&#x27;s no need to ask for anything specific, just wish for a smooth, peaceful, safe and healthy year, and pray that everything goes well.&quot;</p><p>Some temple-goers ushered in the new year by racing to be the first to light incense in the pursuit of good fortune.</p><p>&quot;I didn&#x27;t want to look back with regret when I&#x27;m old, so I decided to go for it,&quot; Kao Meng-shun said from Fusing Temple in Yunlin County, in the central-west of Taiwan.</p><p>In Bangkok, throngs of locals and tourists made their way to Wat Mangkon Kamalawat, the capital&#x27;s most revered Chinese temple.</p><p>Built in 1871 by immigrants from southern China, the temple marks its 154th anniversary this year and remains a key worshipping site for the Thai-Chinese community.</p><p>Sasakorn Udomrat, 56, has been coming to the temple for eight consecutive years.</p><p>&quot;I have many Thai-Chinese friends who say this temple is very sacred,&quot; she said. &quot;I don&#x27;t ask for anything in particular, just good health.&quot;</p><p>Another worshipper Nawarat Yaowanin, 42, told AFP: &quot;According to the Chinese calendar, it&#x27;s a brewing year for me,&quot; she said.</p><p>&quot;I came here to pay my respects and hope to ward off bad luck.&quot;</p><p>Crowds also filled the streets in the Philippine and Indonesian capitals for vibrant lion dance parades.</p><div><strong>- Snow slows travel -</strong></div><div><strong><span class="fr-video fr-deletable fr-fvc fr-dvb fr-draggable" contenteditable="false" draggable="true"><iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/YlnRRDDK5M4?&amp;wmode=opaque&amp;rel=0" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen="" class="fr-draggable"></iframe></span></strong></div><p>During the traditional 40-day period that runs before, during and after the Lunar New Year holidays in mainland China, about nine billion interprovincial passenger trips on all forms of transport are expected to be made.</p><p>Train and air travel are expected to &quot;hit record highs&quot; during this year&#x27;s migration, state news agency Xinhua said.</p><p>In South Korea, heavy snowfall caused disruption to train, plane and bus schedules nationwide, as people went to visit their families this week.</p><p>Passengers were seen at Seoul&#x27;s main train station carrying gifts and luggage as they prepared to leave.</p><p>Images released by local media showed vehicles covered in snow stuck on South Korea&#x27;s major highways as heavy winds and snowfall persisted.</p><p>Traffic authorities warned it could take more than seven hours on Tuesday to drive from Seoul to the port city of Busan, a journey that typically takes around four hours.</p><p>Many others opted to spend the break abroad. The operator of Incheon International Airport announced that it expected more than 2.1 million overseas-bound passengers from January 24 to February 2.</p><p>&quot;This is projected to be the highest average daily passenger count during the Lunar New Year holiday since the airport opened (in 2001),&quot; the operator said in a statement.</p><p>The festivities even extended to space, with Chinese astronauts Cai Xuzhe, Song Lingdong and Wang Haoze sending New Year&#x27;s Eve greetings from the Tiangong space station on Tuesday.</p><p>In a video released by the China Manned Space Agency (CMSA), the trio could be seen dressed in blue jumpsuits with traditional red cloud patterns, holding two pieces of paper-cutting featuring the Chinese character &quot;fu&quot;, for good luck.</p><p>&quot;In the new year, may all your dreams come true,&quot; Wang said, forming a heart shape above her head.</p><div><strong>© Agence France-Presse</strong></div><div><span class="fr-video fr-deletable fr-fvc fr-dvb fr-draggable" contenteditable="false" draggable="true"><iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/oxFVO7w8zLY?&amp;wmode=opaque&amp;rel=0" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen="" class="fr-draggable"></iframe></span><br/></div>

<p>Hundreds of millions of people across Asia celebrate the Lunar New Year with their families on Wednesday, as they bid farewell to the Year of the Dragon and usher in the Year of the Snake.</p>

Hundreds of millions of people across Asia celebrate the Lunar New Year with their families on Wednesday, as they bid farewell to the Year of the Dragon and usher in the Year of the Snake.

Prayer and dance: Hundreds of millions in Asia celebrate Year of the Snake

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Prayer and dance: Hundreds of millions in Asia celebrate Year of the Snake

Agence France-Presse

Published Jan 29, 2025 06:30 AM PHT

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Updated Jan 29, 2025 03:51 PM PHT

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chinese new year

year of the snake

lunar new year

china

southeast asia

South Korea

Taiwan

Singapore

Vietnam

Thailand

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