February 19th is the first day of Chinese New Year and people around the world are celebrating the famous holiday. CCTV’s Qi Wei gathered images from across the globe and filed this report.

The Meridian International Center joined the Chinese Embassy in the United States Capital, Washington D.C. to host the annual Chinese Lunar New Year Celebration. The 5th anniversary of the event was attended by more than 300 guests who learned about traditional paper cutting art and calligraphy. And don’t forget about the food, there was plenty of Chinese fare. Live traditional shadow puppet performances entertained. The ancient art originates from China’s Shaanxi Province.

In Rome, Italy acrobats and dancers from Shaanxi province and Hunan province in China strutted down the Via del Corso, a main historical thoroughfare in the centre of the Italian capital city.

In Croatia’s capital Zagreb, President Ivo Josipovi joined in Lunar New Year celebrations for the third year now, putting the finishing touches on a lion costume before a dance for on-lookers.

In Cairo, youngsters put on a party in the Egyptian capital to mark the coming of the Spring Festival or Lunar New Year, but also to celebrate the 2015 China-Arab Friendship Year. The China-Arab Cultural Journey along the silk road was also a big feature of the commemoration celebrations.