Year of the Snake underway with Lunar New Year festivities

People watch as an artist performs an acrobatic lion dance at the Dongyue Temple on the first day of the Chinese Lunar New Year in Beijing on Jan. 29, 2025. Tourists visit a temple on the first day of the Lunar New Year of the Snake in Denpasar, Indonesia's Bali island, on Jan. 29, 2025.

Lunar New Year festivals and prayers marked the start of the Year of the Snake around Asia and farther afield on Wednesday — including in Moscow.