Children learn Chinese by drawing Spring Festival posters

A new and colorful door opened to welcome the Year of the Dog on the Chinese lunar calendar, with happy dogs about to move into their symbolic house, while next door, which is drab and dull, is already closed after a farewell to 2017, the Year of the Rooster, with tracks announcing the recent departure of roosters.

Four red Chinese lanterns are hanging down from the new door, each bearing a Chinese character jointly to express "Happy New Year" greetings.

This picture, which illustrates a vivid transition between a new year and an old one in Chinese culture, was painted by an ethnic Chinese child, winner of the poster-drawing contest organized by the Real Chinese Academy, a Chinese-teaching weekend school in southeastern London.