It's noisy,acrobatic and crowd-pleasing,but a lot goes into performing a traditional Chinese lion dance.
Sydney is preparing to ring in the Lunar New Year on Saturday night and into the week with an array of festivals,firecrackers and lion dancers dotted across the city.
Epidemiologists say the Chinese holidays will ensure the virus soon reaches every last corner of the country.
Flight MF801 from Xiamen arrived in Sydney just before 11.15am on Thursday,marking one of the first flights from mainland China under the new COVID-19 restrictions.
Spectators thronged to St Albans Lunar New Year Festival,which was hot,and on ‘in real life’ for the first time in two years.
One lion dancing team gave 10 performances across Melbourne on Tuesday,adding colour to the first day of the Year of the Tiger.
Business operators in Chinatowns in Sydney and Melbourne are hoping the lunar new year will bring a change in fortunes as venerable institutions hang on by a thread.
With public events cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic,many people are celebrating Lunar New Year in homes.
This year promises a welcome change from 2020 and 2021 as celebrations for Lunar New Year return after two years of COVID cancellations and postponements.
Pared back celebrations are bringing mixed fortunes for Sydney shop and restaurant owners,who were getting back to normal when Omicron cases surged.
His northern beaches school has pulled out all the stops to help their 14 overseas students,in China and Taiwan,to maximise their learning during the pandemic.