Countdown to the New Year

Diversified performances

Diversified countdown shows and celebrations will also be held in cities such as Beijing and Xi'an－capital of northwest China's Shaanxi province.

A countdown ceremony featuring winter sports and tourism promotion will be open to the general public on New Year's Eve at the Olympic Square, according to the Beijing Culture and Tourism Bureau.

Xi'an, a city with a 2,000-year history, in Shaanxi province, will host a blessing/prayer ceremony at its iconic Big Wild Goose Pagoda, a Buddhist pagoda built in the Tang Dynasty (618-907) period on New Year's Eve.

Coffee festivals and music shows featuring traditional Chinese instruments and modern Western instruments will also be held in the city during the New Year's Day holiday, according to the city's Qujiang New District Management Committee.

Apart from ringing in the new year at popular domestic destinations, several Chinese people are now choosing to celebrate the same at overseas destinations, with that proportion steadily increasing, said a report from Ctrip, an online travel service provider.

The online travel agency said that Prague in Czech Republic, Melbourne in Australia and Los Angeles in the United States were the three most popular New Year destinations for Chinese travelers this year.

Lvmama, another online travel agency, said that Australia in the southern hemisphere has attracted more Chinese visitors due to the warmer climate.

Zhao Xicheng, a 28-year-old employee in a financial institution, plans to spend the last day of 2018 in Australia.

"I will join the countdown show in Sydney along with the fireworks show near the harbor. Sydney will be one of the first destinations in the world to ring in the new year and I want to be part of the bonhomie and revelry," he said.

Xie Jianing contributed to this story.