Chinese communities around the world welcome new lunar year

HONG KONG, FEB 5 (NNN-AGENCIES) – Chinese communities began welcoming the Year of the Pig on Tuesday (Feb 5), ushering in the Chinese New Year with prayers, family feasts and shopping sprees after embarking on the world’s largest annual migration.

In mainland China over the past week, hundreds of millions of people have crammed into trains, buses, cars and planes to reach family and friends, emptying the country’s megacities of much of the migrant workforce.

Celebrations will take place across the globe, from Southeast Asia’s centuries-old Chinese communities to the more recently established Chinatowns of Sydney, London, Vancouver, Los Angeles and beyond.

The most important holiday of the Chinese calendar marks the New Year with a fortnight of festivities as reunited families wrap dumplings together and exchange gifts and red envelopes stuffed with money.

Pigs symbolise good fortune and wealth in Chinese culture and this year’s holiday brings a proliferation of porcine merchandise, greetings and decorations.