Instagram users, who share pictures and videos, soared from 300 million at the start of this year and tops the number of people using Twitter monthly by nearly 100 million.
Analysts said 400 million users is a good number to publicize. It shows the company is doing better than Twitter, which has 316 million monthly active users and is still going through a rocky phase as it struggles to find a permanent CEO.
Along announcement of milestone user numbers, the Facebook-owned company said more than 75 percent of those "Instagrammers" live outside America, more than half live in Europe and Asia.
Instagram also highlighted its non-U.S. celebrity users, including David Beckham from the UK Mens Nike Air Presto Essential Black Australia , Indonesia's Raffi and Nagita, German soccer player Toni Kroos and South Korea's T.O.P..
(Agencies)
SINGAPORE, Sept. 27 (Xinhua) -- The following are inter-bank rates of foreign currencies against the Singapore dollar on Wednesday:
Wednesday Tuesday
bidask bidask
Australian dollar 1.06551.0657 1.07101.0713 British pound 1.82011.8205 1.82421.8247 Hong Kong dollar 0.17400.1741 0.17320.1732 Japanese yen 100 1.20341.2036 1.21121.2116 Swiss franc 1.39411.3946 1.39521.3961 U.S. dollar 1.35901.3592 1.35321.3535
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By Xinhua writer Wang Fan
NEW YORK, Feb. 11 (Xinhua) -- On a wintry morning in New York, traditional lion dancers and a classic Chinese dragon made their way from Manhattan's Chinatown to the Upper East Side nike air max tn australia , then down Madison Avenue, before arriving at East Midtown where families with children were lining up the streets, ready to embrace the Chinese Lunar New Year -- the Spring Festival.
In the Big Apple known as the "melting pot", a spate of festive activities from the Chinese New Year Concert by famed New York Philharmonic to a spectacular fireworks display on the Hudson River, to an Empire State Building light show, were held at iconic venues across the city and saw a broad participation of local communities.
On Saturday, a flash mob featuring 100 monkey performers broke loose at Times Square nike air max 2018 australia , to the cheers and excitement of passers-by, while a video introducing the Year of Monkey was aired at the "Crossroads of the World."
"The celebration of Chinese Lunar New Year is no longer a purely Chinese event but an occasion that celebrates the diverse cultures that make up our communities today," said Shirley Young, chair of U.S.-China Cultural Institute.
With so much fun in the air, it might be hard to imagine a time when Lunar New Year celebrations had been forbidden in the city.
Michael Perrone, in his Belleville Times column, wrote: "There was at the time (around 1870) a very strong anti-Chinese sentiment in the country nike air vapormax australia , backed by state and federal laws restricting the immigration, employment and rights of the Chinese. For example, it was illegal for the Chinese to gather publicly in large groups in New York City."
Therefore, many Chinese of the New York area had to travel to the New Jersey town of Belleville, home to the first Chinese immigrants in the east coast, to celebrate the Lunar New Year.
Thanks to the efforts of the ever growing Chinese communities, the Spring Festival celebrations on the east coast of the U.S. nike air max 97 mens australia , which took shape from a small scale festivity in the Jersey town of Belleville, are no long confined to Chinatown, but extended to the main streets of the city, making ever bigger splashes every year.
In New York City, 2016 is the first year when the Chinese New Year was added to the city's public school calendar, allowing 1.1 million school students to have one day off celebrating the traditional Chinese holiday.
"I think that by giving recognition to this, it actually shows that we are giving respect to the culture diversity of this country nike air max 97 australia , and also, giving the recognition to the great contributions the Chinese-American community made to this society," said Consul General Ambassador Zhang Qiyue.
Meanwhile, at the annual Lunar New Year concert of New York Philharmonic on Tuesday, UN chief Ban Ki-moon took the stage and wished the audience Happy New Year in Chinese.
"It sets a precedent in the history of New York Philharmonic. No guest was invited before to deliver a speech in their concert," said Zhou Wei, founder of the New York-based Weiber consulting company and one of the organizers of the event.
Ban's five-minute speech nike air max 97 ultra australia , not on the official schedule, indicated the growing importance of the Chinese New Year in the world, she added.
Adding to the festivity, Twitter released its first-ever Chinese New Year emoji in a move to become the leading social platform for celebrations.
The hongbao, or red envelope used for gift giving, appeared on tweets containing special hashtags, including #KungHeiFatChoy nike air max 97 undefeated australia , #HappyCNY and #GongXiFaCai.
And on Monday, the first day of the Chinese Year of the Monkey, New York Mayor Bill de Blasio said in a written statement that "The Lunar New Year has long been one of the city's most treasured traditions."