2016年CRI Chinese Lunar New Year Celebrated around the World（在线收听）

The Spring Festival is the most important holiday for the Chinese people; this year, the Lunar New Year has become an international celebration. 

In Europe, many countries are participating in the celebration of Chinese Spring Festival, including Britain, France, and Belgium. Festivities are in full swing as citizens visit Manchester's Chinatown, home to the UK's second largest Chinese community. 

The city has organized a series of themed events and activities, and hundreds of lanterns have been put up in major commercial strips and the town hall plaza, which will be lit on the night of Feb. 12.

Anne Latham, a manager of House of Fraser department store, says this year's celebration is bigger than last year's.

"Every year in Manchester, we celebrate Chinese New Year. This year we've gone bigger than last year, the whole city has gotten behind it and we all celebrate it. The House of Fraser this year has really joined in the culture because our sister company is Chinese, so we'd like to make sure that we're involved in every way."

Activities including a parade, dumpling making, and writing with Chinese brushes have been held in Brussels and Paris.

In America, to welcome the Year of the Monkey, children mostly from Chinese American families put on monkey face paint and masks and performed an act from the Beijing Opera classic "Journey to the West." 

In addition, Universal Studios Hollywood's celebration of the Chinese New Year has attracted crowds from around the world.

In South Africa, a dinner party has been held at the Chinatown area of the capital, Cape Town, with Chinese people and local residents attending a party that featured Chinese-style food. Manuela Lotti was there.

"It's just wonderful to be together with our Chinese community in Cape Town. The food was amazing. The atmosphere was wonderful. Everybody was so excited." 

Sydney, Australia, the sister city of Guangzhou, has celebrated the Chinese New Year with a traditional ceremony to mark the beginning of the year of monkey. 

The celebration started with dignitaries, including the Lord Mayor of Sydney, taking part in a traditional eye-dotting ceremony to "bring the lions to life." 

Chinese-Australians have all made their new year's wishes. 

"I wish to have good grades and my family is still healthy and just good luck in general." 

"In many ways and this year is the fire monkey so it's going to bring lots of energy, positive energies and that's perfect"

After the ceremony, the iconic Sydney Opera House and Harbor Bridge were lit in the color red in an historic first for the city's Lunar New Year celebrations. 

This year's Chinese Lunar New Year falls on Feb. 8.

The main traditional celebrations include eating reunion dinner with family, giving red envelopes, and watching the Spring Festival gala. 

With the development of technology, sending instant messages and cyber-money gifts have also become a part of the celebrations. 

For CRI, this is Li Jianhua.