世界各地的新年庆祝活动

And the New Year festivities have been spreading around the globe...But different countries have different ways to welcome the new year. Up next, we take a whirlwind tour around the world for a sample of the many unique celebrations!

In New York, huge crowds turn out at Times Square for the massive annual party. The proceedings include a group of Chinese martial artists who give a Kungfu performance.

Madrid is also a hot spot to spend New Year’s Eve. At Puerta Del Sol, a clock at City Hall marks the end of the old and the beginning of the New Year. With each stroke of the clock, everyone scarfs a grape, eventually eating 12 of them.

This tradition dates back to 1909, when the king of Spain gave grapes to everybody to eat on New Year’s Eve - a celebration of a particularly fruitful harvest.

Xue Hongning, Chinese Students, said, " It’s such a unique tradition. This is my first time. I wish a happy new year to my friends in Spain and China!"

And in Scotland, the Hogmanay celebrations have begun in Edinburgh with a torchlit procession involving more than 8-thousand people. The parade marks the beginning of a three-day new year festival, and this is the 21st year the city has hosted a prolonged Hogmanay party.

"It’s absolutely magical."

"It’s my birthday tomorrow...homecoming."

In Tokyo, thousands of locals and tourists crowd into the grounds of Zojoji temple as Japan celebrates the arrival of the new year. At the stroke of midnight, priests use ropes to swing a wooden pole against the temple’s huge bell.

The tolling of bells at midnight is an ancient tradition for Buddhists. They believe that humans are born with 108 worldly desires, and that each of these is removed when the bell is struck.

"With Tokyo winning the Olympic bid for 2020, I hope it will be a year for Japan when everyone is happy."

While in Lima, hundreds of Peruvians crowd into the traditional "Wish Fair", buying amulets and performing rituals to bring good luck in 2014.

Visitors are bathed in flowers during rituals and browse stalls selling statues and models representing ambitions for the new year. Here, a variety of miniature houses, cars, horses and briefcases full of fake money can be found, along with sculptures of a figure called "Ekeko", who is believed to bring good fortune.