Whilst I was tucked up in bed here in Pattaya at 1130 , I know I know, but it is party town every day of the year why go out when everyone from Bangkok is here? Bah humbug!
Huge crowds gathered to see some of the biggest festivities since the outbreak as countries all over the world rang in the new year.
The Pacific island nation of Kiritbati is always the first to greet 2023, one hour earlier than its neighbors, including New Zealand, and three hours earlier than Australia’s east coast.
Large crowds gathered in Auckland underneath the Sky Tower as fireworks were sent off after a 10-second countdown to midnight.
The first large city to welcome the new year with a fireworks show was Auckland.
Sydney’s sky is illuminated by a spectacular show to welcome 2023.
Large crowds gathered all over Australia to see fireworks displays held in all capital cities for the first time since 2019 as they took advantage of the pleasant weather.
Spectacular pyrotechnics over Sydney Harbor celebrate 2023
Around Australia, parties have been staged to welcome the new year. The majority of the nation welcomed 2023 with good weather and large crowds.
Due to COVID regulations, numerous New Year’s Eve celebrations were postponed the previous year.
The typical four-hour curfew in Myanmar was lifted to allow people to celebrate New Year’s Eve in the nation’s three largest cities.
People gathered in great numbers to rejoice in the streets of nations around the world, including China, as COVID restrictions began to relax in 2022.
China abruptly changed its zero-COVID policy this month after enforcing it for almost three years.
Revellers in Wuhan, a city in central China and the pandemic’s epicenter, voiced optimism for better fortune in the coming year.
There were also huge festivities in Beijing, Shanghai, and Hong Kong
Numerous people gathered in Wuhan, China, to rejoice after restrictions were loosened.
For Chinese people, on January 22 2023 is the official Chinese New Year and is the year of the rabbit is a tame creature representing hope and life for a long time. It is tender and lovely.
The moon goddess Chang’e in the Chinese legend has a rabbit as her pet, which stimulates the thought that only this creature is amiable enough to match her noble beauty. Another way of saying is that the Rabbit is the incarnation of the moon goddess per se and it is always a symbol of pureness and auspiciousness.
People born in the Year of the Rabbit are gentle and approachable. They have a decent, noble and elegant manner.
In Japan, the biggest Buddhist temple in Tokyo chose more than 100 visitors to ring a huge bell.
Temple bells of the Sensoji Buddhist temple are tolled 108 times as part of the Joya no Kane rite, which purges people of their 108 vices and worldly cravings from the previous year.
A woman in traditional kimono garb from Japan rings a temple bell to usher in the new year.
In Thailand, a stunning fireworks show above Bangkok’s Chao Phraya River heralded the arrival of 2023, while in Myanmar, the usual four-hour curfew was lifted so that people could celebrate New Year’s Eve in the nation’s three largest cities.
Over Wat Arun, the temple of dawn, fireworks flare during the New Year’s festivities in Bangkok.
Over the Chao Phraya River, fireworks detonate as Bangkok celebrates the new year.
Due to flooding throughout Malaysia that caused tens of thousands of people to be evacuated, a New Year’s countdown and fireworks display that was scheduled for Kuala Lumpur was cancelled.
A cultural procession including Balinese dancers dressed in traditional garb took place in Bali, Indonesia, as part of the festivities.
As they marked the end of the year using the Gregorian calendar, many celebrators in Asia wore rabbit ears. Chinese New Year, also known as the lunar new year, will be observed on February 4 to usher in the year of the rabbit.
In Dubai, fireworks detonated from the Burj Khalifa, the tallest structure in the world, while in war-torn Syria, revelers congregated in Aleppo’s severely devastated streets to ring in 2022.