New Year's Revelers Around The Globe Bid Adieu To 2016

As 2016 draws to a close, revelers around the world are bidding a weary adieu to a year filled with political surprises, prolonged conflicts and deaths of legendary celebrities.

Sydney sent up a dazzling tribute to 2016’s fallen icons with a New Year’s Eve fireworks display honoring the late singer David Bowie and late actor Gene Wilder, becoming the first major city to bid a bittersweet adieu to a turbulent year.

The glittering display over Sydney’s famed harbor and bridge featured Saturn and star-shaped fireworks set to “Space Oddity,” the classic song by Bowie - one of the seemingly endless parade of beloved entertainers who died in 2016.

In Japan, temple bells echoed at midnight as families gather around noodles and revelers flock to shrines for the biggest holiday in Japan.

Residents in Beijing and Shanghai, China’s two largest cities, passed New Year’s Eve in a relative state of security lockdown, according to Chinese media reports citing police.

Hundreds of thousands of South Koreans ushered in the new year with a massive protest demanding the resignation of disgraced President Park Geun-hye. It was the 10th straight weekend of protests that led to Park’s impeachment on Dec. 9 over a corruption scandal.

For most people in India, New Year’s Eve is a time for family. In New Delhi and many other cities, newspapers were full of big advertisements for lavish parties at upscale hotels and restaurants. The big draws at the hotel parties are song and dance performances from Bollywood and television stars.

The Philippines’ notorious tradition of dangerous New Year’s Eve celebrations persisted after President Rodrigo Duterte delayed to next year his ban on the use of powerful firecrackers, often worsened by celebratory gunfire.

Powerful firecrackers and gunfire have maimed hundreds of people and killed some each year across the Philippines despite government crackdowns.

In Dubai, hundreds of thousands of people watched as fireworks shot from the sides of the world’s tallest building, the 2,716-foot Burj Khalifa. The show also was streamed live online.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.