BIRMINGHAM’S Chinese quarter was awash with a sea of red and gold as Chinese New Year welcomed the Year of the Rabbit with an afternoon of entertainment at the Arcadian Centre.

Dragon dances, acrobatic performances, Kung Fu demonstrations and Chinese New Year songs were just some of the cultural entertainment on offer yesterday after traditional fire-crackers marked the start of the year 4709.

Thousands of people packed the streets adorned with red and gold lanterns to take in the smells, sights and sounds of the celebrations. Steamed pork dumplings and hot noodles were sold from stalls lining the streets along with hand made window decorations and intricately decorated pots.

Birmingham Chinese Festival Committee chairman, Jeffrey Yap, said: “It has been absolutely brilliant. The crowd is even bigger than last year and the festival has grown again. We think around 25,000 people will have celebrated with us.

“There has been a packed programme of acrobatics and dance and this year we also had a big screen outside the Hippodrome so even more people could watch.