Mexico City on Saturday ushered in the Chinese Year of the Rooster with a day-long celebration featuring a parade of traditional lions and dragons, as well as music and dance.

Hundreds of onlookers gathered outside the National Museum of Cultures, which organized the event, to enjoy the celebration marking the arrival of the Chinese Lunar New Year.

The Moneda Street in the local historic downtown was filled "with all the color and festivity of artists who have traveled the globe, spreading the millenary art and traditions of that Eastern nation," state news agency Notimex said.

As part of celebrations marking the 45th anniversary of diplomatic ties between Mexico and China, the festivities continue on Sunday as the museum also welcomes the Year of Chinese Culture in Mexico.

In conjunction with the Confucius Institute at the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM), the museum offers workshops in Chinese cuisine, ink drawing, calligraphy, paper cutting and tie-dye.