People across New Zealand, one of the first countries in the world to welcome the year 2008, celebrated the New Year by holding concerts and displaying fireworks.
Auckland, 496 km west of the International Date Line, is the first major city in the world to welcome the New Year, with a glittering display of fireworks set off from the 328-meter high Sky Tower.
The largest city of New Zealand has also been celebrating with a "First Night" free-to-all event across five levels of the Aotea Center, with headlining acts Opshop, Annabel Fay and One Million Dollars.
As the closest city to the international dateline, the North Island eastern city of Gisborne, which was hit by an earthquake measuring 6.8 on the Richter scale in mid December, will be the first city in the world to see the first light of 2008.
The sunrise will be welcomed by more than 15,000 revelers at the annual Rhythm and Vines festival, which is billed by organizers as the first festival in the world to see the sun and the largest in the country.
Rhythm and Vines, featuring about 40 New Zealand and international acts, runs for 24 hours from noon on New Year's Eveat Waiohika Estate Vineyards.
Around the country, police are reporting a generally peaceful New Year's Eve, with only a handful of arrests.
At Mount Maunganui, the traditional New Year's Eve hotspot of Mt Maunganui has been relatively quiet, with police reporting few arrests. Some 30,000 people have turned out to welcome the New Year. The main stage has showcased music and entertainment, and a large firework display has thrilled the crowd.
In the capital of Wellington, the weather has held for Wellington's family friendly "Rhythm and Beats" event. The countdown started early in the square, with the audience's younger members asked to count the New Year in at 9:00 p.m. Monday (0800 GMT Monday), in case they were unable to last until midnight.
In South Island's largest city of Christchurch, about 6,000 revelers have packed into Cathedral Square in Christchurch to usher in the New Year with a firework display and music and dance.
In the South Island city of Queenstown, a seven minute firework display has lit up the sky and water of Lake Wakatipu, to cheers and celebrations from some 20,000 people gathered on the lakeshore.
In Dunedin, police reported only a couple of arrests for minor offenses such as offensive behavior and beaching liquor bans. Families gathered at the Octagon to celebrate the turning of the year.
Source: Xinhua
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