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February 7, 2011 | ![]() |
Chinese New Year, 2011
The Lunar New Year, or more accurately the lunisolar new year, began February 3 and in most countries that celebrate it ushered in the Year of the Rabbit according to the Chinese zodiac. In China Lunar New Year is the most important date on the calendar and triggers over a month of holiday travel which is often described as the largest annual human migration in the world. Hundreds of millions tax the transport system. The new year also marks the beginning of the Spring Festival in China which continues until the Lantern Festival on the fifteenth day. Lunar New Year is celebrated in many countries, with many different traditions as well. Gathered here are pictures of China's travel wave and celebrations, as well as pictures from other countries' Lunar New Year observations. -- Lane Turner (40 photos total)
To see the entire entry, with all photographs, click here.
163 comments so far...
# 29
Gold/diamond cake: Ridiculous
#24 - Someone pass the butter!
沙发
#24 is amazing!
wonderful pictures, thanks
These pictures are really amazing.
Thanks!
Nice Pic, I miss China, I miss my mom and dad.
isn't 24 gorgeous!!
wow, nice pix
Kung hei fat soi!
There's a lot of people in China.
祝大家新年快乐!
Wish everyone a happy new year!
#16 is hilarious!
#16 is so funny =)
Great. Guess they had an eventful New Year 2011. Amazing pictures. They show that we're all native humans all over the globe. Won't believe in crucial differences anymore after having seen so many impressive documentary photos on this website. One can differ between ideologies, but not between humans. Thanks so much!
Looks a bit like the year of the Playboy Bunny! :-)
Happy New Year!
Great selection. As always.
借用宝地。
祝我的爸爸、妈妈、爷爷、奶奶、弟弟和妹妹身体健康,春节快乐。——来自远在外地的儿子。
So beautiful and heartfelt.
They're all amazing as usual. But number 5 is truly awesome:-)
Beautiful people-packed China pictures! Best of luck and prosperity to all the chinese citizens!
#24 is an amazing photo.
third
#18 is awesome.
nice set, Boston's celebration is Feb 13th in Chinatown...won't be quite as ornate, but should be fun nonetheless.
竟然是沙发!
#24 is awesome
Chunjie kuaile!
#24 just looks incredibly nice. :-)
And for a moment I was reminded of 'Donnie Darko', when looking at #16.
All in all, great photos, and a Happy New Year! :-)
恭喜發財
These pictures are hopping GOOD! They give one good insight into the lives of the Oriental people.
All photos are great as usual. But #9, OMG, it's breathtaking!
Hermoso! Es de admirar la cultura y la historia, simplemente espectacular!
very nice photos
Awesome #24, the looooooooooooong table.
#26 is my favorite
superbe !!!
Finally I saw some vertical photos in big picture.
Picture 18 had me rolling! I've never seen so many rabbits do the gangster lean at once!
The travel pictures and #24 remind me of Thanksgiving in the US. 新年快樂
Superbes photos.. Merci
#21 is a woman.
兔年吉祥
新年快乐!恭喜发财。
新年快樂 from Singapore!!
新年快樂!
Love it! #5 is amazing!
Nice chosen pics that sketched the face of China.
Gong Xi Fa Cai!!! :D
Frohes neues Jahr... super schöne Fotos!
Super schöne Fotos....
Nice shot~ 新年快乐
新年快乐!恭喜发财!大展宏兔!~~
Happy Lunar New Year!
新年快乐
No Hong Kong photos of the celebrations? Amazing pics!
Nice shot~ 新年快乐
新年快乐!~
朴实,谢谢摄影师
24楼的,不是沙发了。 。别太激动。。
Kung Hei Fat Choi! Happy year of the Rabbit to all Chinese people!
#24, now that's what I call a community.
#29, If you have money, why not! Personally it's a bit extravagant but hey, not my money!
It's amazing to see pictures of hundreds of million of Chinese traveling back home to be with their families. It's true that the home is where the heart is or hearth?
@12 Love the Fireworks with city landscape.
nice pics!!!!!
Looking at the pics one get a feeling that Chinese are quite religious, It is not like that okay.
Китай форева)
superb...........
Of all the pictures, no.25 caught my attention. Its heart breaking and sad.
震撼,感动!
祝全球中国人:鸿"兔"大展,恭喜发财!
Encore de très belles images, propices au rêve
17:
大吉大利 恭喜发财 Happy Chinese New Year
新年快樂 恭喜發財 鴻兔大展
RT @sabrinaden: 所谓的春节就是吃吃喝喝,更体会上帝在圣经里的宣告:《腓立比书 3.19》 他们的结局就是沉沦;他们的神就是自己的 肚腹。他们以自己的羞辱为荣耀,专以地上的事为念。
Amazing photos! #24 is heart-warming. Thanks for sharing what it's like celebrating CNY in China.
Gong Xi Fa Cai from an ethnic Chinese in Kuala Lumpur!
新年快乐~大家吃嘛嘛香,干嘛嘛成!
#16 is so funny :D
Best wishes to Chinese people!
新年快乐!照片很棒
so many good pic.
so many good pic.
Awesome... wunderbar....gyonyoru
your photos can make you feel the emotions of people..fantastic!
xin nien quai le!
belle foto.
foto metadata?
bagus banget
So much more I need to learn about China
新年快乐。。。。。
wish you happy
Very good pics
Happy New Chinese Year
Outstanding photos!!! Although #1 through #10 remind me of my daily commute.........
great pictures.
那啥,祝我新年快乐
All are very nice snaps. Everyday i am waiting new snap in boston.com. We can see the world by one window.
Happy Chinese New Year!
I wonder why no one point out the mistakes?
1. Chinese New Year 2011 began on February 3.
2. In photo 37 the workers steam Chinese New Year's cakes, not mooncakes.
#24 is great
#24 is nice.
Really like the #24 photo. Such a neat efforts to capture the event and the surroundings. Gives a taste of life in southwest china village.
magnifiques images, bonne et heureuse année du lapin
새해 福 많이 받으세요^^
excellent selection. my favourite is #19.
Excellent photos, Happy Chinese New Year. Gung Hay Fat Choi
Nice photos.
I would prefer if you would call it Lunar New Year instead of Chinese New Year. It's not just the Chinese people who celebrate the new year day of the lunar calendar. The Vietnamese, Korean, and other Asian ethnic groups do as well. Especially this year when the zodiac signs are different for different culture. For example, he Vietnamese people celebrate the year of the Cat instead of the year of the Rabbit.
So to make it transparent to include many cultures, I think it is more appropriate to refer this celebration as the Lunar New Year celebration.
do you eat the diamond in # 29 or just the gold?
awesome, 24 is epic.
I really love @24 it's very good photo.
Thank you.
# 24 just incredible
'Kung Hei Fat Choi! Kiong Hee Huat Tsai!
Wonderful pictures! I love it!
#24 community meal and even tourist are invited. Wow! That's really nice!
Comment #90: I think because most of us are unfamiliar with Chinese ways, specially regional customs. I can't tell whether they are steaming moon cakes or rice cakes. They taste OK, a bit of a strange texture to a western palate.
#32, wow! I hate to be claustrophobic and be jostling for position. If you are a pickpocket, this would be a really good opportunity.
How come the series starts with a whole bunch of photos of people traveling?
It would be like a starting a thanksgiving photo-series with 10 pictures of people in cars stuck on the highway...
恭喜发财,红包拿来!呵呵。
第二十一张图是个女孩吧
24 is simply amazing.
It reminds me of my trip there last year!
祝在美国的亲人们,朋友们新年快乐!万事如意!兔年吉祥!
Wonderful Image :)
#37 - mooncakes? Thought moon cakes are for Mid-autumn festival?
and "Nian Gao" sticky cakes are for the Lunar New Year?
May you have a great Golden Rabbit year.
Because every 60 Chinese year cycle there are 5 Rabbit years. This one we have this year is a golden Rabbit which means a very prosper year.
Wish you catch the GOLDEN RABBIT.
amazing pictures!
Very nice indeed....Missing china!!!
nice photos, remind me of the soviet celebrations...
新年恭喜!一切平安!
Great shots.
If anyone is interested I've put some shots up of the celebrations in Chinatown in Sydney Australia, check them out at www.hughca.com
Thanks for posting they made me happy, made me smile and feel hopeful for 2011!
Hop Hop Hop!
拍的很漂亮啊,打酱油的不甘心默默路过…………
Such beautiful and positive pictures! Thank you for sharing them with us.
Wow! that is amazing!
祝我爸爸妈妈身体健康~平平安安
70楼是大煞笔
恭祝大家兔年吉祥如意!
祝海内外华人新年快乐,万事如意!
really funny how the white culture sees china, the only picture shows are the rail stations not the airport, some town street,Only the ethnic pictures, showing the villages of china, When the Europe celebrate the new year you got see those city view firework, well, the DEVEloped country.
I'm in awe. Incredible photos for an incredible experience.
love the pics!!
Happy Lunar Chinese New Year!
Absolutely beautiful Thanks for sharing.
恭喜发财
過年好!
Wow, it's really amazing and very touching, HAPPY LUNAR YEAR !
Keep healthy everybody and take care, GBU all!
祝大家新年快乐,万事如意。
happy chinese new year!!
祝大家兔年大吉!
Fantastic
兔年吉祥!
25 says more than all the other ones
Happy belated Chinese New Year ..
Wishing all the best.....
Great photos.
Great Photographs !
Photo 29..Some eat 24k Gold leaf while so many starve.
新年快乐,恭喜发财
Note to Editor, I think it's a bit careless to leave the caption on photo 33 as "A vendor shouts out to customers at a Chinese New Year market in Taipei January 30, 2011."
as the location is much more significant than just a regular street market. It is Dihua Jie and this market in particular is only available during the days leading up the lunar new year.
Aside from captions being too sparse on information, I have to say I really enjoy The Big Picture!
So much beauty. Hope this is a prosperous and healthy year for everyone.
HAPPY CHINESE NEW YEAR
AMAZING...PHOTOGRAPHS..... INDEED
I still think there should be more nice places or nice scenery to show the Chinese New year! anyway, Happy New Year to all who celebrate Chinese New year! Wish China grow stronger and stronger!
I love my country!
AMAZING PHOTOGRAPHERRRRRR
3 words for #24, amazing amazing and amazing..............
nice pics!!! really colorful!! my fav was da pic in which meal was served in a small town!! :)
Nice picture. Is rabbit festival most important for china.
why they should they take holiday on that day
plz send me replayy
Nice picture, unique !!!
Alus pisan lah (sundanese)
These photographs are fantastic!
Muchas, F E L I C I D A D E S por este año 2011
que cada uno de los nuevos conejitos sea portador de sabiduria,
paz, para poder enterder este mundo hermoso del cual estamos
heredando para el.
COOL!
每一个人过的年都不一样,但愿每人都过的精彩。
希望今年奶奶身体健康,全家都平平安安。。。。
Очень красочно!
I teach music and try to include as many cultures as possible to honour the many different cultures of my students. I have always included the lunar new year but have never had photos to share before! Thank you - this collection not only contains magnificent pictures, but also demonstrates that Lunar New Year is celebrated in many places.
Great pictures.
Amazing pictures.
Can boston.com give me a position as photographer? I want to work for this website, especially The Big Picture!
Wait for your feedback.
Thanks again for so many great pictures to help us to know the world.
Great photo .So much beauty .Happy Chinese New Year.
i like china
Chinese peoples are: 1. Homely 2. Friendly 3. They have proved ALL ARE EQUAL, which means they know how to respect Each other 4. They know how to enjoy in life 5. They know how to express the gratefulness to the Almighty.
I think Chinese New Year celebration can be a good example to others.