A billion-plus Asians welcomed the Year of the Dragon on Monday, Jan 23, with a cacophony of fireworks, hoping the mightiest sign in the Chinese zodiac will usher in the wealth and power it represents.

From Malaysia to South Korea, millions of people travelled huge distances to reunite with their families for Lunar New Year - the most important holiday of the year for many in Asia - indulging in feasts or watching dragon dances.

As the clock struck midnight, Beijing's skyline lit up with color as families across the Chinese capital set off boxes and boxes of fireworks to ward off evil spirits in the new year - a scene repeated across the country.

Pollution levels in the city, which has come under fire for its bad air quality, spiked in the early hours of Monday morning as fireworks filled the skies with particulates, before falling back down again, official data showed.

North Koreans marked the Lunar New Year by laying flowers before portraits of late leader Kim Jong-Il and recollecting his "undying feats", the official news agency reported.

Those living in the Philippines were able to sleep in on Monday after the Lunar New Year became an official holiday for the first time, despite objections from some in the business community.

The dragon is the most favourable and revered sign in the 12-year Chinese zodiac -- a symbol of royalty, fortune and power that is also used in other cultures that mark the Lunar New Year.

According to some astrologers and geomancers, the Dragon may bring natural disasters and financial volatility to an already unstable world, The Associated Press reported.