Chinese Lunar New Year festivities

Today, February 17th, is observed as the Lantern Festival - the 15th and final day of Chinese Lunar New Year festivities. The holiday is the most important annual celebration in China, when the nation largely shuts down as families gather together for reunions and feasts. More than 2.5 billion passenger trips by air, rail, bus or sea are taken around the holiday, according to the Chinese government. The Lantern Festival, or Yuan Xiao Jie, will complete the welcoming of the Year of the Rabbit - from the Chinese zodiac, indicating a year of caution and calm, with a quiet underlying strength and determination. Below are images of festivities from around the world for this year's Lunar New Year

Participants perform a fire dragon dance at a temple fair celebrating the Chinese Lunar New Year in Beijing, China on February 6, 2011. (REUTERS/Grace Liang