Apart from eating dumplings and watching dragon dances, China's Lunar New Year, known as the Spring Festival in China, can now be celebrated in yet another way - by sharing what you do.

China's Ministry of Culture has announced a global contest in which contestants can post essays, photos and videos about the Spring Festival to social media networks and win prizes of up to $500.

The Chinese New Year - Just Share It contest lasts more than a month and is sponsored by the Ministry of Culture's bureau for external cultural relations and organized by ChinaCulture.org, a website sponsored by the Ministry of Culture and China Daily's Web portal ChinaDaily.com.cn.

The contest hopes to "tell stories of the Spring Festival all over the world, demonstrate the happiness, vitality and harmony of the festival and reflect its growing charm and influence", according to a ministry statement.

Until March 5, participants can send their work or Youtube links to contest@chinadaily.com.cn, post it on China Daily's BBS online forum or to Facebook page "Chinese New Year - Just Share It." All works submitted must be written or annotated in English.

Winners will be determined through voting by netizens and experts. Netizens' votes will account for 40 percent of the final determination, while the votes of experts from academia, the China Photographers' Association and China Daily will make up the remaining 60 percent.

The winners of the contest will be announced in late March and their works will be displayed on ChinaDaily.com.cn and ChinaCulture.org.

The event is held as the Ministry of Culture's launches Happy Chinese New Year, a global initiative to celebrate the most important holiday in China with more than 300 partners, including the city governments of Chicago, Los Angeles, London, Sydney and Auckland, as well as world-renowned landmarks such as the Empire State Building and British Museum.

The celebration includes numerous exhibitions, performances and events for all audiences. In New York City, the China Central Academy of Fine Arts will display works of Chinese artists at Lincoln Center on Feb 17. China's star pianist Tian Jiaxin will perform at Carnegie Hall on Feb 18, Lunar New Year's Eve, and the New York Philharmonic will team up with Chinese musicians for a joint concert on Feb 24.

Lu Huiquan in New York contributed to this report.