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Because

the corona pandemic is under control

in

China

and there are hardly any infections, the new year in the People's Republic has started without major restrictions.

However, New Year's Eve is not a particularly important holiday for the Chinese either.

According to their traditional lunar calendar, the new year doesn't start until February.

Only then does a great wave of travel begin, in which hundreds of millions move through the country to visit their families.

Only then is there a really big celebration.

Nevertheless, fireworks were set off in some cities at midnight on Friday.

One was also planned in Wuhan, the city of the corona outbreak.

There the people with face masks stood close together.

An image that is unusual in these times.

Waiting for the new year in Wuhan, China

Source: AFP / NOEL CELIS

New Zealand

has welcomed the New Year with a number of major music festivals and fireworks shows.

The island nation in the South Pacific has not recorded any local corona cases for more than a month.

Therefore, the events could take place without restrictions on the number of visitors or other corona-related restrictions.

With live music into the new year in Christchurch, New Zealand

Source: AP / Ernest Kung

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In

Australia

, instead of the usual big New Year's Eve celebration on Sydney Harbor with a million visitors this year, there was only a seven-minute show - almost without an audience.

The area around the harbor was cordoned off and popular parks were closed.

From outside, only those who had a reservation in a restaurant or were one of five permitted guests of a local resident were allowed into central Sydney.

Some restaurants at the port charged up to 1690 Australian dollars (1050 euros) per guest, as the newspaper "The Daily Telegraph" reported.

In the second largest Australian city of Melbourne, where several new infections had been reported for the first time in weeks, the fireworks display was canceled this year.

Fireworks, yes, but almost without an audience: Sydney, Australia

Source: via REUTERS

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In

Taiwan

, which has reported only seven deaths and 700 confirmed infections since the pandemic began, the usual fireworks display also took place next to the tall Taipei 101 skyscraper.

Party in Taipei, Taiwan

Source: AFP / SAM YEH

In

Japan

, New Year's Eve was celebrated quietly this year.

Because of a new record number of new corona infections in Tokyo, Governor Yuriko Koike called on residents: "Please spend the New Year with your family and stay at home."

Police officers in Tokyo.

Their signs say "No countdown event for today"

Source: dpa / Kiichiro Sato