Across the world, the Lunar New Year was celebrated with fervor. From Beijing to Buenos Aires, via Bangkok and Moscow, prayers, fireworks and popular fairs marked the entry into the Year of the Horse.
Published on: 02/17/2026 - 7:21 p.m. Modified on: 02/17/2026 - 9:43 p.m.
In China, Thailand, Taiwan, but also in Russia and Argentina, Lunar New Year festivities inaugurated the year of the Horse, one of the 12 animals of the Chinese zodiac, succeeding the year of the Snake.
In Beijing, thousands of people crowded into the ancient Earth Temple to buy snacks, toys and trinkets from stalls. Sun Jing, who brought his parents to the capital for the holiday, said the atmosphere was as lively as when he was a child.
“I haven’t felt such a festive Lunar New Year spirit in a long, long time,” she said.
Crowds headed to popular temples to burn incense and pray for happiness and success in the coming year. Lunar New Year is the most important annual holiday in China and some other East Asian countries, and it is also celebrated outside the region.
Incense smoke billowed into the air at a Hong Kong temple, where people line up at midnight every year to offer New Year wishes.
Holding a handful of incense sticks, many bowed their heads repeatedly before placing the sticks in containers set out in front of the temple's main hall.
Performers in Vietnam sang during an outdoor countdown, before several fireworks shows in different cities in the Southeast Asian country, where the holiday is called Tet.
Light displays illuminated bridges and skyscrapers as fireworks exploded, and crowds clapped along to live pop music concerts.
People sampled Chinese cuisine at stalls and strolled through snow-covered streets decorated with red lanterns and dragons, as two weeks of festivities kicked off on Monday in various venues across the Russian capital.
The third annual Lunar New Year celebration comes at a time when relations between China and Russia are heating up – ties that frustrate many European governments due to the war in Ukraine.
The solemn sound of a temple bell rang out 108 times – a lucky number – as people flocked to Baoan Temple in Taipei on Tuesday morning.
They lit incense sticks, bowed their heads and placed colorful bouquets of flowers on tables outside at the temple grounds in the Taiwanese capital.
Thousands of Argentines gathered in Buenos Aires' Chinatown to celebrate the Lunar New Year and enjoyed dragon and lion dances on the main stage, as well as martial arts demonstrations.
The Chinese immigrant community is one of the most vibrant in Argentina, numbering more than 180,000 people in the South American country.
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With AFP
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