Celebrations welcoming in the 2014 year are already underway in countries like Australia, New Zealand, and countries throughout Asia, like Indonesia, Singapore and China. In Japan,
"Shinto priests gathered at shrines to prepare to usher in the new year. While celebrations are expected in major Chinese cities, the city of Wuhan called off its display in order to avoid worsening the city's smog problem," as reported by BBC News.
New York will mark the new year with the traditional New Year's Eve countdown.
For the first time in more than a decade, "pyrotechnics were launched from the iconic Sydney Opera House, giving the estimated 1.6 million revelers gathered around the harbor an exciting start to 2014," NBC News reported.
The intergalactic-themed festivities included a green, alien-like glow in the water and fireworks resembling spaceships.
Elsewhere in the world, "major cities in Asia and the Middle East were preparing for the hoopla," NBC News also reported.
