People gather to celebrate the new year 2012 at the Temple of Heaven, the city's historic landmark in Beijing on January 1, 2012. (Photo credit: LIU JIN/AFP/Getty Images)
Sri Lanka
A Sri Lankan traditional dancer performs in Colombo, on December 31, 2011. The ceremony was conducted to ward off bad spirits in the 2012 New Year. (Photo credit: Ishara S.KODIKARA/AFP/Getty Images)
Malaysia
Residents watch fireworks displays above the Malaysia's iconic landmarks, Twin Towers (R) and Kuala Lumpur Tower (C), duirng the new year celebrations in Kuala Lumpur on January 1, 2012. (Photo credit: SAEED KHAN/AFP/Getty Images)
Tokyo
Young people celebrates New Year's Day at Tokyo's Shibuya district on January 1, 2012. (Photo credit: YOSHIKAZU TSUNO/AFP/Getty Images)
Arles, France
A picture taken on December 31, 2011 in Arles, southern France, shows a MMS with the New Year greetings on the screen of a smartphone. (Photo credit: GERARD JULIEN/AFP/Getty Images)
Rawalpindi
A Pakistani barber gives a 2012 hair cut on a man to celebrate New Year at a barber shop in Rawalpindi, on December 31, 2011. (Photo credit: STRDEL/AFP/Getty Images)
Berlin
Visitors crowd in front of a stage erected in front of Berlin's landmark the Brandenburg Gate, where one of the country's biggest New Year's Parties is expected to be celebrated on December 31, 2011. (Photo credit: ODD ANDERSEN/AFP/Getty Images)
Johannesburg
Children dance in the streets of Johannesburg on December 31, 2011 during the New Year's carnival. (Photo credit: STEPHANE DE SAKUTIN/AFP/Getty Images)
Amritsar
Indian artist Harwinder Singh Gill displays a creation made with 250 small flags of different countries reading "Happy New Year 2012" on new year's eve in Amritsar on December 31, 2011. (Photo credit: NARINDER NANU/AFP/Getty Images)
Beijing, China
The Circular Mound is illuminated as Beijing celebrates the New Year's Eve at the Temple of Heaven Park on December 31, 2011 in Beijing, China. (Photo by Lintao Zhang/Getty Images)
Sydney, Australia
Fireworks light up the skyline over Sydney Harbour during the midnight fireworks session as Sydney Celebrates New Year's Eve with the theme of 'Time To Dream' on January 1, 2012 in Sydney, Australia. (Photo by Ryan Pierse/Getty Images)
New Delhi, India
Indian flower sellers make rose and marigold garlands for customers at a roadside stall in New Delhi on December 31, 2011, on New Year's Eve. (Photo credit: RAVEENDRAN/AFP/Getty Images)
Auckland, New Zealand
The top of the Sky Tower is obscured by cloud during the New Years Eve fireworks display on January 01, 2012 in Auckland, New Zealand. (Photo by Phil Walter/Getty Images)
Beijing, China
The Temple of Heaven (The Qi Nian Temple) is illuminated as Beijing celebrates the New Year's Eve at the Temple of Heaven Park on December 31, 2011 in Beijing, China. (Photo by Lintao Zhang/Getty Images)
Kyrgyz capital Bishkek
People dressed as the Russian Santa Claus, Ded Moroz (Grandfather Frost) (L) and his companion Snegurochka (Snow Maiden) (2R), take part a New Year parade in the Kyrgyz capital Bishkek, on December 31, 2011. New Year, which was the biggest informal holiday of the year in the former Soviet Union, is also very popular in predominantly Muslim Central Asian nation of Kyrgyzstan. (Photo credit: VYACHESLAV OSELEDKO/AFP/Getty Images)
Lahore
Pakistani Christians hold candles for peace on New Year's Eve celebrations in Lahore on December 31, 2011. (Photo credit Arif Ali/AFP/Getty Images)
Sydney, Australia
Fireworks light up the skyline over Sydney Harbour during the midnight fireworks session as Sydney Celebrates New Year's Eve with the theme of 'Time To Dream' on January 1, 2012 in Sydney, Australia. (Photo by Ryan Pierse/Getty Images)
Beijing
A woman walks past a lightbox with "happy new year" at a shopping mall in Beijing on December 31, 2011. (Photo credit LIU JIN/AFP/Getty Images)