The festivities to usher in the Year of the Dog reflected not only the British capital's desire to show off its cultural diversity but also to capture a share of China's booming wealth.

Some 350 performers, many of them flown in specially from Asia, took part in the annual parade from Chinatown to Trafalgar Square that included ornate dragons and lions, as well as drums, ribbon and fan dancers.

Beijing's Gold Sail dance troupe of smiling young women in green silk and sequins stole the show from amid a kaleidoscope of colors enhanced by the alternating effects of bright sunlight and shadows cast by stately buildings.

Crowds cheered their approval as they passed.

A display of martial arts also pleased the crowds.

Organizers expected attendance would top the 80,000 people who last year gathered in Trafalgar Square, where the parade was followed by traditional Chinese arts and entertainment.

A spokeswoman for the London Chinatown Chinese Association said some 200,000 people were expected to take part in this year's celebrations extending from Trafalgar Square to Leicester Square, including London's Chinatown.

Events have also been organized at major tourist haunts in the British capital, including fireworks at Leicester Square, and dragon and lion dancing in the popular Chinatown district of Soho.

Later, the giant London Eye ferris wheel on the south bank of the River Thames was to be lit red to mark the occasion.

The parade is part of "China in London 2006", a two-month-long cultural festival of more than 100 events across the capital.

Chinese pop superstar Li Yuchun officially launched the celebrations on Thursday by switching on the specially designed red lanterns on streets around central London.

London tourism chiefs are hoping the parade and festival -- which is centred around a Royal Academy of Arts exhibition of rare treasures from China's imperial past -- will boost the number of Chinese visitors to the city.

Judith Woodward, advisor to London Mayor Ken Livingstone, said at the launch Thursday: "There are 13.5 million tourists leaving China annually. It's expected that by 2010 there will be 50 million tourists.

"We want all of these tourists to have London on the list of their destinations."

According to the Greater London Authority in 2004, Chinese investment and student numbers in the capital are growing as Beijing's dragon economy goes from strength to strength.

An Office for National Statistics report -- "Population Estimates by Ethnic Group 2001-2003" -- published Thursday also showed that the Chinese community in England is growing at the fastest rate of any ethnic group.

The number of Chinese in the country increased by an average 11.1 percent between 2001 and 2003 to 562,000, largely due to international migration of people born in China.

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