The Spring Festival is the most important holiday for Chinese people and many celebrate it by reuniting with their families, and this applies to other countries also.

Businesses in London's Chinatown always see their largest numbers during the Spring Festival. Chinese people come to eat the cuisine of their hometowns and get a bite of the traditions from their ancestral homes. Restaurants also prepare diversified menus to serve customers from different areas of China.

"Though we've been abroad for many years, we still have the feelings of when we were at home. Every Spring Festival my family would get together, watch CCTV's Spring Festival Gala, and eat dumplings. That's the real passing of the new year. The farther we are from home, the deeper the feeling is,” said overseas Chinese Ma Tao.

Overseas students who cannot go back home also have their own ways to celebrate Lunar New Year.

"We are roommates. On the day of the Spring Festival we have class. We plan to make dumplings together, and watch the CCTV's Spring Festival Gala in our dormitory," said overseas student Wu Yahen.

Even a month ahead of the big day, Chinatown has been decorated and is ready to welcome the holiday. It's estimated that over six million visitors come to the streets here during Spring Festival each year.

(Top image: Shops are decorated with red lanterns before the Spring Festival in London's Chinatown, January 21, 2014. /VCG File Photo )