Lunar New Year history show: Chinatowns around the world celebrate
***ONE TIME USE ONLY, PLEASE CLEAR THE COPYRIGHTS BEFORE RE-USE *** circa 1945: Performers and a dragon move through the street while celebrating Chinese New Year with the dragon dance in Chinatown, San Francisco, California. (CREDIT: Getty Images / Hulton Archive) [08FEBRUARY2016 FEATURES ONLINE]
***ONE TIME USE ONLY, PLEASE CLEAR THE COPYRIGHTS BEFORE RE-USE *** circa 1945: Performers and a dragon move through the street while celebrating Chinese New Year with the dragon dance in Chinatown, San Francisco, California. (CREDIT: Getty Images / Hulton Archive) [08FEBRUARY2016 FEATURES ONLINE]

For Chinese everywhere, from San Francisco to Southeast Asia, and for other Asian cultures, Lunar New Year wouldn’t be the same without celebrations such as a dragon dance. These historical photos come from Getty Images

Wherever in the world Chinese communities have sprouted, one thing remains constant: large and lively celebrations for the Lunar New Year that present a colourful photo opportunity.

In San Francisco, North America’s oldest and the world’s largest Chinatown, residents have held a New Year’s parade since 1858. Coming a few weeks after New Year’s Day, on February 20 this year, the parade is expected to feature 100 entries.

London is where you’ll find Europe’s largest Chinatown, and the community has this year organised a day of Sichuan opera following dance performances in Trafalgar Square. As in Chinese communities elsewhere in the world – from Australia to the Southeast Asian nations – the traditional celebrations will attract thousands of spectators of all races.

To mark the start of the Lunar New Year of the Monkey, US photo stock agency Getty Images has curated a historical collection of images from around the world from its archive of 80 million photos.

Circa 1945, a dragon dance to celebrate Chinese New Year in Chinatown, San Francisco. Photo: Getty Images/Hulton Archive
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