More than a million revelers congregated at Times Square in central Manhattan of New York on Monday to celebrate the advent of the new year -- 2008.
Revelers cheered in earsplitting shrieks as the extra-bright crystal ball, weighing almost 500 kg, was sliding down the 23.5-meter flagpole at midnight.
It was the 100th drop of the giant crystal ball, which was twice as bright as its predecessor and emitted millions more lighting effects.
A ton of confetti, a multitude of small pieces of paper, rained down from the surrounding skyscrapers on cheering crowds immediately after the new year was ushered in.
"I have many, many wishes for the new year," a girl from China's Taiwan surnamed Liu, who arrived Monday afternoon specially for the event, told Xinhua.
"But what I wish most is that wars of any kinds will disappear from the earth so that all people can live in peace and harmony," added Liu, a company employee.
A teenage American girl, whose birthday happened to be on Dec. 31, shouted, cheered and jumped most of the time. She said she prayed that everything would be fine with her family members and all her friends. But her mother, who was standing next to her, smiled and said: "I just want her to be a good girl."
The Times Square new year's ball tradition began a century ago with a 700-pound (317.5-kg) ball of wood and iron, lit with 100 25-watt incandescent bulbs.
This year's event featured an energy-efficient sphere clad in Waterford crystals, with 9,576 light-emitting diodes that generated a kaleidoscope of colors.
The Times Square Alliance, the business group running the event, handed out thousands of balloons and mittens to the crowd, which waited for hours in chilly winter weather for the main event. The confetti included pieces of paper printed with the new year's wishes and resolutions of people who submitted them in advance.
Over the century, five other versions of the ball were designed to ring in the New Year. In 1999, the ball was made from crystal to welcome the new millennium.
This year, the motif is "Let There Be Light" and features a stylized, radiating sunburst on each of the crystal triangles.
Source: Xinhua
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