The Chinese New Year parade kicked off at 8 p.m. Sunday in central Sydney, with dragon and lion dances and big red lanterns shining, a tradition of the local Chinese community to celebrate Chinese New Year -- the Spring Festival.

More than 600,000 people were standing along the streets on the CBD to see 2,600 performers, including 500 from central China's Henan province. This is the first time the parade was held in the evening. In the past three years, such parades were held in the morning.

The parade started in Park Street, near Town Hall, and ended at Tumbalong Park, Darling Harbor, followed by a fireworks display at Cockle Bay to mark the Year of the Ox.

"Starting at dusk, Sydney's streets will host a stunning night-time parade with a procession of performers in colorful costumes and spectacular floats," Sydney Lord Mayor Clover Moore said in a statement.

The performers, with many of them wearing traditional Chinese costume, marched more than an hour along the CBD streets to end at Darling Harbor, with people along the sides cheering and applauding loudly.

"The parade is really wonderful and I learned a lot about Chinese tradition from this parade," a pedestrian called himself Robert told Xinhua while watching the parade, adding that he had watched the parade in the past few years as well and was fond of the Chinese culture.

The Roads and Traffic Authority had encouraged people attending Sunday's parade to use public transport to and from the festivities.

Source: Xinhua