After a harrowing 2020, Asia tiptoes into the New Year

A woman walks past a painting outside an art school in Mumbai, India, December 30, 2020. REUTERS/Francis Mascarenhas

(Reuters) - As Asia says goodbye to 2020 - a tumultuous year that saw the planet roiled by a deadly pandemic - celebrations will be smaller, shorter and more muted amid fears of coronavirus flare-ups.

In Beijing, the capital of the world's most-populous country, an annual New Year light show at the China Central Television Tower scheduled for Thursday through Sunday has been called off.