Australia's Newcastle celebrates Chinese New Year with red lanterns

On Feb 24, the third "Light Up Newcastle" to celebrate the Chinese Lunar New Year was held at Harbor Square's Maritime Center in Newcastle, the second largest city in Australia's New South Wales.

Zhang Yingbao, cultural consul of the Consulate General of China in Sydney, and Nuatali Nelmes, lord mayor of Newcastle, attended the event with nearly 20,000 local residents to usher in the Year of the Dog.

An entertainment stage was set up near the Maritime Center, where performances of Peking Opera, Chinese folk dances, lion dances and tai chi were staged.

Visitors sat on the grass to watch the performances and sampled Chinese delicacies. Many locals wearing various Chinese traditional costumes walked around the venue, adding a lot of color to the event.

In the evening, the square was enveloped in a vibrant, festive mood. Rows of red lanterns hung on the waterfront buildings glimmered softly and people cheerfully took a walk with lighted lanterns in a marching band. Later in the evening, the whole event culminated in a spectacular fireworks show.