Hundreds of thousands of people gathered along Hong Kong’s Victoria Harbor to watch fireworks explode from the roofs of ten of the city’s most famous buildings.
In Vietnam’s capital, Hanoi, an estimated 55,000 people packed a square in front of the city’s elegant French colonial-style opera house for their first New Year’s countdown blowout, complete with dizzying strobe lights and thumping techno music spun by international DJs.
Vietnamese typically save their biggest celebrations for Tet, the lunar new year that begins on Feb. 3. But in recent years, Western influence has started seeping into Vietnamese culture among teens, who have no memory of war or poverty and are eager to find a new reason to party in the communist country.
At Japan’s Zojoji temple in Tokyo, monks chanted and revelers marked the arrival of the new year by releasing silver balloons with notes inside.
The temple’s giant 15-ton bell rang in the background. (AP)
