Fireworks explode over the Red Square during
New Year's celebrations in Moscow Jan. 1, 2008. (Xinhua
Photo)
A buffoon shakes his hands during a New
Year's celebration in Spain's Madrid on Dec. 31, 2007. (Xinhua
Photo)
Fireworks light up the sky over Marina Bay
during New Year celebrations in Singapore Jan. 1, 2008. (Xinhua
Photo)
An Austrian man (L-Front) opens a bottle of
champagne to greet the New Year in Vienna Jan. 1, 2008. (Xinhua
Photo)
New Year celebrations were held in Bangkok,
Thailand on Jan. 1, 2008. (Xinhua Photo)
A lighted display in the shape of an hour
glass glows on the Sydney Harbour Bridge during a New Year's Eve
fireworks celebrations show Dec. 31, 2007. Known for its
choreographed and themed fireworks displays, this year's display is
titled "The Time of Our Lives."(Xinhua/Reuters Photo)
Fireworks over Sydney harbour. Sydney staged
a spectacular curtainraiser to the new year with a massive
fireworks display watched by more than one million people lining
the harbour of Australia's largest city. (Xinhua/AFP Photo)
Several young people play fireworks to geet
the New Year in Manila, Philippines, Jan. 1, 2008.
A couple play fireworks during the New Year
celebration in Berlin, Germany, on Jan. 1, 2007.
A Russian man dances during the New Year
celebration at the Red Square, Moscow on Jan. 1, 2008.
People around the world embraced the 2008 New Year with
celebrations of all kinds, including fireworks, concerts and
get-togethers.
In Beijing, a large-scale outdoor performance was staged on the
last day of 2007 on Monday to celebrate the Olympic host city
stepping into the "Olympic Year."
The performance saw about 4,000 spectators waving and cheering
for pop stars who sang songs related to Olympic dreams and
spirit.
Most of the spectators were university students wearing hats and
gloves in the five colors of the Olympic Rings.
In Moscow, Russia, tens of thousands of people went to the Red
Square to celebrate the New Year at an open-air concert, a skating
rink and a boom of the Kremlin's chief tower clock at minus 5
degrees Celsius.
In Indonesia's capital of Jakarta, people thronged around the
Monas Monument to celebrate the New Year which was also highlighted
by spectacular fireworks.
After enjoying various forms of fireworks near the Monas
Monument for 20 minutes, revelers poured into the city till the
change of the year.
In Australia's Sydney, one of the first cities to meet 2008,
more than 1 million people lined the harbor and cheered as
fireworks sprayed from the iconic Harbor Bridge.
In Malaysia, a countdown concert and a fireworks display were
staged for the celebration.
In war-torn Iraq, people took to the streets of Baghdad,
shooting firecrackers and weapons.
The ballrooms of two famous hotels, the Palestine and the
Sheraton were packed with merrymakers.
In France's Paris, about 400,000 local residents and tourists
crowded the famous Champs-Elysees Avenue with a mass of car-honking
celebration.
In Britain's London, people flocked in the Trafalgar Square and
along the banks of River Thames to enjoy a fireworks display and
hear Big Ben's resounding bongs.
Germany's Berlin also saw a remarkable celebration as about 1
million people packed streets around the Brandenburg Gate in what
local media ranked as the world's biggest New Year party.
In the Spanish capital of Madrid, thousands gathered in the
Puerta del Sol Square for the New Year countdown. Many also
followed the tradition of eating 12 grapes, one for each chime of
the clock, in hope of good luck in 2008.
New York's Times Square, which is always packed with visitors on
the New Year Eve, was flocked again with people who gathered to
watch the dropping of a new energy-efficient ball and cheered as
the clocks strike 12.
(Xinhua News Agency January 1, 2008)
