In pictures: Lunar New Year celebrations

Jan 29: Red lanterns, fireworks and family feasts. This is how millions of families around the world will be ringing in the Lunar New Year, the most important holiday in the Chinese zodiac calendar.

Today, January 29, begins the 15-day celebration, also known as the Spring Festival when the Year of the Snake is ushered in.

In many families, the new year is marked by exchanging red envelopes filled with money, seeing family and friends, and eating auspicious treats such as turnip cake. It is also China’s busiest travel period of the year.

‘Chunyun’ – the name for the 40-day period when Chinese people go home to celebrate the Lunar New Year with their families – is often referred to as one of the world’s biggest human migrations. This year, it’s expected that 9 billion journeys will be made during chunyun, or spring rush, from January 14 to February 22, state media reported.

A man and a young child watch fireworks during Lunar New Year celebrations in Manila, Philippines, on January 29. Eloisa Lopez/Reuters

A Lion Dance performs a blessing at a restaurant in the vibrant Chinatown of Edmonton, Canada, on January 26. Artur Widak/NurPhoto/Getty Images

Participants perform during the Grebeg Sudiro festival in Solo, Indonesia, as a prelude to the Lunar New Year. Robertus Pudyanto/Getty Images

People enjoy lantern displays at a tourist attraction in Chengdu, China, organized to celebrate the Spring Festival. VCG/Getty Images

A woman practices with a traditional dance streamer at Ditan Park in Beijing, on January 24. Kevin Frayer/Getty Images

Folk dancers perform a dragon dance in celebration of the upcoming Lunar New Year of the Snake in Taicang, Jiangsu province, China. Stringer/AFP/Getty Images

Female military officers take photos as local residents carry large flowers during a small procession for the Little Year, or Xiaonian, which marks the beginning of preparations for the Lunar New Year and Spring Festival, in Beijing, on January 22. Kevin Frayer/Getty Images

Women touch the snake figure on a stone wall at Baiyun Taoist Temple in Beijing. The Year of the Snake starts on January 29. Andy Wong/AP

A child jumps to touch red lanterns hung on trees at the Ditan Park in Beijing. Aaron Favila/AP

Travellers line up at the busy Hongqiao railway station in Shanghai, China. During the Lunar New Year, it is a tradition for many people to travel home to spend time with their families. Qilai Shen/Bloomberg/Getty Images

A worker arranges dried incense sticks to dry in a courtyard in Quang Phu Cau village, Vietnam. Incense burning is a Lunar New Year tradition, symbolizing prayers for prosperity and good fortune. Nhac Nguyen/AFP/Getty Images

A brightly lit Shibati Traditional Style area in Chongqing, China, on January 18. Costfoto/NurPhoto/Getty Images

Students perform a colourful ribbon dragon dance on the playground of Qingyunpu Campus of Nanchang Middle School in East China's Jiangxi province, on January 17. CFOTO/Future Publishing/Getty Images

A customer shops for New Year decorations, ahead of the upcoming Lunar New Year of the Snake, at a store in Nanjing, China, on January 15. Stringer/AFP/Getty Images

People look at a dragon-shaped lantern at a lantern fair in Chongqing, China on January 21. Stringer/AFP/Getty Images