AP PHOTOS: Lunar New Year prayers and incense usher in the Year of the Snake

Wisps and clouds of smoke rose into the air at Buddhist and Daoist temples around Asia on Wednesday as people lit incense to pray for good luck in the Year of the Snake.

From Vietnam to Japan, ethnic Chinese flocked to temples across north and Southeast Asia on what was the Lunar New Year, the first day of the Year of the Snake in the Chinese zodiac.

They gave a small donation for a bundle of incense sticks and lit them. Some held them above their heads and bowed several times to the deity in the temple. Then they stuck the sticks into sand or a similar material in often ceremonial vessels outside the main hall, the smoke wafting up and intensifying as more people came and went.

In Thailand, some also held red tea-light-size candles in small glasses, with rows more spread out in front of them, to worship the gods at the temple.

The prayers began late on the eve of the New Year in Hong Kong, where people annually line up at a Taoist temple to try to be the first to put their incense sticks into the stands at 11 p.m.

The earliest to get their incense sticks and prayers in are believed to stand the best chance of having them answered.

Lana Wong, a celebrity who attracts attention every year with her outfits, wore two stuffed toy snakes around her neck as she planted her incense sticks.

''I pray for world peace, jobs for everyone and good health to everyone,'' she said.

Similar scenes played out after daylight in the morning at the Lama Temple in Beijing, a historic Tibetan Buddhist institution that draws large crowds on the first day of every lunar year.

''We want to get rid of all the bad things and physical diseases from the past year and embrace the start of the new year,'' said Niu Qingshan, who came to the Lama Temple from neighboring Hebei province.

The Lunar New Year is also a time for ''temple fairs'' in China, with performances by lion dance troupes and booths selling snacks, toys for children and other traditional and non-traditional items.

A sea of people, bundled up against the winter cold on a bright sunny day, filled Ditan park in Beijing for the fair at what was the Temple of Earth, a royal altar in imperial times.

Elsewhere in the world, processions with colorful dragon figures wove through the air at Lunar New Year events in Moscow and Havana, while people in the Indian city of Kolkata — home to an ethnic Chinese community — gathered in restaurants to celebrate the Year of the Snake.