The Chinese Lunar New Year is being celebrated around the world with lanterns, performances, decorations and food.

People are bidding farewell to the Year of the Dog in the 12-year Chinese astrological cycle and welcoming the Year of the Pig with hopes of happiness and good fortune.

On the eve of the New Year, members of Chinese communities gathered for reunion dinners, gave red packets of money to children and lit firecrackers at midnight.

Earlier on Tuesday, the first day of the Year of the Pig, hundreds lined up outside famous temples to burn the first joss sticks of the year, expecting it to bring them good luck.

The streets were decorated, kiosks set up and traditional dragon dancers leapt in the air.

The colour red dominated the celebrations – on lanterns, clothes and signs. In homes and shops, pig dolls were displayed for the festival, which is also celebrated in Vietnam and by ethnic Chinese communities across Asia.