London hosts biggest celebration outside Asia

As drum beats, the celebration begins.Lion dancers warmed up cold air in London's Trafalgar Square. They snake through the crowed streets, before reaching their final destination-Chinatown. It kicks off London's Chinese New Year celebrations, the biggest of their kind outside China.

Hundreds of thousands of people head to Chinatown - in London's West End - where a range of performances is staged, including Chinese acrobatics, traditional dances and a lion dance on high poles.

Chinatown itself is at the centre of the New Year's party. It has been transformed into a sea of street performers and market stalls, making it the best place in Britain to experience Chinese culture.

This year's celebrations mark the arrival of the Year of the Monkey. It recurs every 12 years. People born in a Monkey year are called "Monkeys" in China.

Even a decade ago, Chinese New Year had little impact outside of China, but it's now a major event on London's calendar. The growing influence of Chinese New Year is apparently due to China's growing economic and political status.

Chinese New Year is for Londoners of all backgrounds-not just celebrating the beginning of the Year of the Monkey, but the growing relationship between Britain and China.