New York City has welcomed Chinese New Year - which officially starts tomorrow - in style with a breathtaking fireworks display centred around the iconic Empire State Building.

Beijing has also welcomed the Year of the Monkey with a bang, but is expected to be significantly less noisy than previous years, due to clamp downs on firework sales.

Fireworks sales in China's capital are down by a half this year after already falling a third in 2015 while the central city of Zhengzhou is one of five provincial capitals outlawing firecrackers altogether.

Shanghai is also banning them in the city center but, in a nod to marriage customs, handing out free electronic ones to newlyweds.

New York City schools will be closed on Monday to mark the Lunar New Year.
City Schools Chancellor Carmen Fariña said New York City is the largest school district in the country to add the holiday to the school calendar.

‘(We) are setting a high bar for inclusiveness for the rest of the country,’ she told New York Daily News, noting city schools developed a Lunar New Year curriculum guide to encourage students and families to learn about the holiday.

The Lunar New Year celebrations have been compared to Christmas or Thanksgiving for Christian Americans and last year NYC added the two Muslim holidays.

-Daily mail