Chinese Indonesians celebrate New Year

Chinese Indonesians in Cirebon, West Java, prayed at temples, watched lion dances and lit fireworks as they celebrated Chinese New Year on Sunday.

The celebration kicked off at 10.00 p.m. on Saturday with people of Chinese descent streaming to temples and donating money to people living in poverty.

Just before midnight, the revellers lit 200 candles in Dewi Welas Asih temple and another 100 candles in Talang temple. They prayed for a better future, Kompas.com reported.

A lion dance was then performed and 800 fireworks were lit to ward off bad luck.