Let the year of the monkey begin!

The video below shows how colorful fireworks displays are created for the celebration of Chinese New Year, which, per the Chinese lunar calendar, is on February 8 this year.  

Fireworks are traditionally used to scare away evil spirits from the year to come. In addition to the firecrackers, the celebrations feature music and dancing. And everything is decked in red and gold, signifying luck and wealth. 

After a big celebration, "you just feel good," says Steven Tin, executive director of New York City's Better Chinatown Society in the video, which was shot in New York.

In China, people made more than 3.5 billion trips this week in order to celebrate with their families. Most traveled from the country's fast-growing, industrializing cities back to the countryside, to their families' ancestral