Jan 29: Red lanterns, fireworks and family feasts. This is how millions of families around the world will be ringing in the Lunar New Year, the most important holiday in the Chinese zodiac calendar.

This Wednesday, January 29, marks the beginning of the 15-day celebration, also known as the Spring Festival when the Year of the Snake is ushered in.

In many families, the new year is marked by exchanging red envelopes filled with money, seeing family and friends, and eating auspicious treats such as turnip cake. It is also China’s busiest travel period of the year.

‘Chunyun’ – the name for the 40-day period when Chinese people go home to celebrate the Lunar New Year with their families – is often referred to as one of the world’s biggest human migrations. This year, it’s expected that 9 billion journeys will be made during chunyun, or spring rush, from January 14 to February 22, state media reported.

A man and a young child watch fireworks during Lunar New Year celebrations in Manila, Philippines, on January 29. Eloisa Lopez/Reuters

A Lion Dance performs a blessing at a restaurant in the vibrant Chinatown of Edmonton, Canada, on January 26. Artur Widak/NurPhoto/Getty Images

Participants perform during the Grebeg Sudiro festival in Solo, Indonesia, as a prelude to the Lunar New Year. Robertus Pudyanto/Getty Images

People enjoy lantern displays at a tourist attraction in Chengdu, China, organized to celebrate the Spring Festival. VCG/Getty Images

A woman practices with a traditional dance streamer at Ditan Park in Beijing, on January 24. Kevin Frayer/Getty Images

Folk dancers perform a dragon dance in celebration of the upcoming Lunar New Year of the Snake in Taicang, Jiangsu province, China. Stringer/AFP/Getty Images

Female military officers take photos as local residents carry large flowers during a small procession for the Little Year, or Xiaonian, which marks the beginning of preparations for the Lunar New Year and Spring Festival, in Beijing, on January 22. Kevin Frayer/Getty Images

Women touch the snake figure on a stone wall at Baiyun Taoist Temple in Beijing. The Year of the Snake starts on January 29. Andy Wong/AP