Explosion of festivity in Beijing as the Lunar New Year starts

Millions of people have welcomed the Lunar New Year, also known as Chinese New Year, the most important annual holiday in much of Asia.

In the Chinese zodiac, this year will be the year of the snake, taking over from the dragon of 2012.

In China, an estimated 200 million people have travelled to be with their families in what is considered the biggest mass human migration on Earth.