Fireworks explode over Elizabeth Tower housing the Big Ben clock to celebrate the New Year in London, Tuesday, Jan. 1, 2013. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)

Fiscal cliff? Recession? Not in Asia, where the first countries to see 2013 are enthusiastically welcoming the new year.

The buoyant economies of the Asia-Pacific are prepared to party with renewed optimism despite the so-called fiscal cliff threatening to reverberate globally from the United States and the tattered economies of Europe.

Increasingly democratic Myanmar is having a public countdown for the first time. Jakarta plans a huge street party befitting Indonesia's powering economy.

In Sydney, eager revelers camped on the shores of the harbor to get the best vantage points as 1.5 million were expected to gather to watch the fireworks show centered on the Sydney Harbor Bridge.

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