Gong Xi Fa Cai

FIRST day of Chinese New Year! Year of the Pig! End of the 12 Chinese Zodiac cycle! Before anything else,

GONG XI FA CAI!
HAPPY CHINESE NEW YEAR!

Updated 3:49pm: Added photo taken at Suria KLCC



Updated 9:53pm: World's most populous Chinese nation celebrates the first day of the Pig year with much grandeur! Check out the Reuters article "Chinese crowds greet the New Year with a bang". Here are the photos featured in that article:

Worshippers burn incense at the Longtou Temple in southwest China's Chongqing Municipality on the first day of the new Chinese lunar year February 18, 2007. Chinese around the world welcomed the Lunar New Year which is believed to be an especially auspicious "golden pig year", which only comes around every 60 years. CHINA OUT REUTERS/China Daily

A worshiper prays in front of a fire place in a temple in Shanghai February 17, 2007. Chinese around the world are preparing to welcome the Lunar New Year of the Pig on February 18. REUTERS/Nir Elias

Worshippers burn incense at the Yonghe Gong or Lama Temple in Beijing on the first day of the new Chinese lunar year February 18, 2007. Chinese around the world welcome the Lunar New Year which is believed to be an especially auspicious "golden pig year", which only comes around every 60 years. REUTERS/Reinhard Krause

A worker arranges inflatable pig balloons, part of Chinese Lunar New Year decorations to celebrate Spring Festival, at a park in Beijing February 17, 2007. China will usher in the "Year of the Pig" on February 18, according to the lunar calendar. REUTERS/Claro Cortes IV