A little fire can inspire people at New Year's

My only New Year's regret is that I didn't get to jump over the fire.

His Excellency Yashar Aliyev, Azerbaijan's ambassador to China, gathered a few hundred of his closest friends last week for the annual celebration of the New Year.

The Novruz holiday coincided with the spring equinox on Sunday. A pre-Islamic holiday that is rooted in ancient Persian culture, it is celebrated in Iran and Afghanistan (where the transliterated spelling is usually "Nowruz") and parts of other countries in the region, including western areas of China