India's financial hub of Mumbai celebrated the Chinese New Year on Friday midnight in the age-old Kwang Kung Temple, the only Chinese temple in the city.

Born and brought up in Mumbai, Albert, the priest of the temple performed the rituals at the temple. Speaking about the temple, built by his forefathers during the British era in India, Albert said there are 1200 to 1500 Chinese people living in Mumbai and they visit the temple to seek blessing after their marriages or for their new born babies.

The Kwan Kung is the God of war and wealth and it is a belief that paying a visit and some offering to the temple would remove obstacles in life, he said.

The celebration was also marked with traditional Chinese dance on the streets outside the temple by young Chinese and Indian students. "The lion dance is part of the Chinese culture and to keep it alive we keep performing every year," said Jackie, a 35-year-old dance performer with a Chinese origin, but was born and brought up in India and now works as a cabin crew for a private Indian airline.

Wishing the Indian and Chinese people good fortune, Tang Guocai, Consul General of the People's Republic of China in Mumbai, said, "The year 2020 is the year of the rat, an auspicious animal, and it would be a year of great change and auspicious meanings for China, India and Asia to rise."

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