Chinese New Year Jan 29, 2025

Chinese New Year

The streets come alive today with a symphony of firecrackers, red lanterns and cheerful chatter—it"s Chinese New Year. Steeped in thousands of years of tradition, this holiday marks the start of the lunisolar Chinese calendar. One of the most captivating images associated with this festival is the dragon dance, pictured here. This is a mesmerising performance where skilled dancers manipulate a long, flexible dragon puppet, bringing it to life with sinuous, undulating movements. The dragon, a symbol of power, dignity and good fortune, is believed to bring luck to the community, with longer dragons bringing even more prosperity.

© Miao Jian/Wuhan Morning Post/Visual China Group via Getty Images

palette

Today in History

Why are blackbirds tied to winter?
Jan 29, 2024Gollinger Waterfalls, Salzburg, Austria
Jan 29, 2026Milwaukee City Hall, Wisconsin, United States

More Desktop Wallpapers:

Aug 3, 2024Three Natural Bridges, Wulong National Park, China
Nature, art, and...math?
Feb 4, 2024Devetashka Cave, Devetaki, Bulgaria
Nov 15, 2023Rapa Valley in Sarek National Park, Sweden
A puzzle for giants
Feb 6, 20262026 Winter Olympics
Where are these magnificent cliffs?
Aug 25, 2023Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, USA
Rising with the sun
Gateway to Iberia
Mar 25, 2025Tolkien Reading Day
Apr 26, 2024Mangrove islands near Kundapura, Karnataka
Jan 13, 2025Happy Welsh New Year!
Oct 2, 2025Gandhi Jayanti
Sep 19, 2024Obereversand Lighthouse, Dorum, Germany
An old bridge in a new light
MPs most photographed big cat
Nov 17, 2024Red deer stag in Glen Affric, Scotland
May 3, 2025Happy International Astronomy Day!
May 4, 2024Star Wars Day
Unbe-leaf-able
Oct 17, 2023Persepolis, Iran
Oct 5, 2024African elephants in Tsavo East National Park, Kenya
Dec 23, 2023Chinstrap penguins
May 7, 2025Rabindra Jayanti
Dec 19, 2025Bormio, Lombardy, Italy
Feb 15, 2025The natural ice wall of Misotsuchi, Chichibu, Japan
Walking a rocky rainbow
Jan 1, 2025Happy New Year!
Apr 18, 2026World Heritage Day