世界各国喜迎新年

The United States welcomed in New Year's Day 2015 with the traditional celebration in New York City's Times Square.

Hundreds of thousands of revelers gathered in the city's iconic tourist attraction to watch Mayor Bill de Blasio and his family push the button that dropped a giant crystal ball one minute before midnight. New Year's celebrations were also taking place in many other cities across the United States located in different time zones.

Hours earlier on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean, Londoners gathered on the banks of the River Thames to watch a spectacular fireworks display over the Houses of Parliament, as the iconic Big Ben clock chimed at the stroke of midnight.

In the Asia Pacific region. a giant clock on Auckland's landmark Sky Tower counted down the minutes until the New Year, before fireworks launched from the tower lit the nighttime sky.

In Sydney, more than 1.5 million revelers massed in warm summer weather along the shores of the city's harbor to watch a spectacular eruption of pyrotechnics that featured depictions of shimmering gold and silver palm trees.

Splashy bursts of color from the fireworks filled the sky over Victoria Harbor in Hong Kong.

Beijing counted down to 2015 with a figure skating exhibition aimed at promoting China's bid to host the 2022 Winter Olympics, while the Persian Gulf emirate of Dubai readied what it said would be the largest-ever LED-illuminated facade, on the world's tallest building.

The Brazilian tourist attraction of Rio de Janeiro was expecting more than one million revelers to crowd its Copacabana Beach for rock concerts on three stages.

But in Indonesia, in the aftermath of the crash of the AirAsia passenger jet into the depths of the Java Sea, prayerful remembrances took precedence in Jakarta, and other cities canceled their normal New Year celebrations.