(VOVWORLD) - After the New Year countdown and light shows, people around the world celebrated the first day of 2023 with exciting activities like shopping, visiting shrines to pray for peace, and sharing a dinner with their families.
 Japanese visits Meiji shrine on the first day of 2023. (Photo: Reuters)
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 Americans celebrate the New Year at Time Square. (Photo: AFP/VNA)
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In Beijing, Chinese people flooded to shopping malls and entertainment centres despite the cold weather. Movie theaters as well as grocery markets were packed.
In Japan, people visited shrines and prayed for a happy and peaceful year. Many flocked to Meji Jingu Temple, one of the most important Shinto shrines in Tokyo.
In South America, Copacabana beach is the Brazilians’ favorite destination during the New Year where they pray Laemanja, the Goddess of the Sea, for good luck.
Belgian farmers extended New Year wishes for their pets and domestic animals in the first morning of 2023.
In the US, the New Year came much later than in Asian countries. Hundreds of thousands of Americans gathered at the Time Square, New York to celebrate 2023 with music and entertainment. When the clock strikes midnight during the New Year, a 6 tons ball with a diameter of 3.6m was dropped from the top of the Time Square. The ball was covered by nearly 2.700 Waterford crystals and illuminated by a 16 million color palette.
2023 is the first year to see COVID-19 restrictions removed. New Year events and activities were more open as a result. People around the world considered this a chance to return life back to normal and pray for a peaceful beginning.