Dunedin Chinese Garden

About 250 people braved last night's inclement weather in Dunedin to celebrate the eve of the Chinese New Year.

Fireworks topped off a night of Chinese New Year celebrations at the Dunedin Chinese Garden last night.

The Year of the Rabbit is supposedly a placid year, very much welcomed and needed after the ferocious Year of the Tiger.

Dunedin's Chinese Garden could be closed on quiet days, or leased to a private operator, amid fears the Dunedin City Council is "flogging a dead dragon".

Dunedin Chinese Garden staff hope an amateur photography competition will boost attendances over the next week.

Dunedin's Chinese Garden has a new manager, and with numbers well down on a "honeymoon period" last year, Margo Winchester has her work cut out.