The Role of Millions across Asia Mark Year of the Snake

The Role of Millions across Asia Mark Year of the SnakeBEIJING — 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 Wood Snake.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. Train stations and airports across the East Asian 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 hit a record high.Temples and parks in the capital Beijing on Wednesday were full of people braving freezing temperatures to bid farewell to the Year of the Wood Dragon with dancing and prayers. 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.In Taiwan on Wednesday, people of all ages poured into temples to make offerings of fruit, sweets, crackers, and nuts. "Our tradition is to visit the temple and pray, for better fortune for this year," said Chen Ching-yuan, 36, as she visited Longshan Temple in the capital Taipei with her mother."Some templegoers ushered in the new year by racing to be the first to light incense in pursuit of good fortune." In Bangkok, throngs of locals and tourists made their way to Wat Mangkon Kamalawat, the Thai capital's most revered Chinese temple. 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.Another worshipper Nawarat Yaowanin, 42, told Agence France-Presse: "According to the Chinese calendar, it's a brewing year for me." "I came here to pay my respects and hope to ward off bad luck," she said. During the traditional 40-day period that runs before, during, and after the Lunar New Year holidays in mainland China, about 9 billion interprovincial passenger trips on all forms of transport are expected to be made.In South Korea, heavy snowfall caused disruption to train, plane, and bus schedules nationwide as people went to visit their families this week. Traffic authorities warned it could take more than seven hours on Tuesday to drive from Seoul to the southern port city of Busan, a journey that typically takes around four hours.

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