Chinese New Year 2016 - The Year of the Monkey
BEIJING — The new Chinese year begins Monday, Feb. 8, when the zodiac calendar enters the Year of the Monkey — the ninth of 12 animal signs. Plastic monkeys are adorning shopping centers and office buildings, and government departments have been giving out toy monkeys.
Having a baby in the Year of the Monkey is generally thought to be more auspicious than in that of its predecessor, the sheep, and the cute creature is in any case largely beloved by the masses for its playful and human-like characteristics, despite a penchant for stealing food.
The new lunar year is already boosting a fighting style that imitates the movements of a monkey. It also offers an excuse to cash in on China's most famous monkey — Sun Wukong, or the Monkey King — a fabled demon-slayer.
Less happily, feng shui predictions foresee fire, disease and volatile stocks.
A look at what mischief the Year of the Monkey may have in store and how some will be celebrating:
MISCHIEF
Those born in the Year of the Monkey are held to be playful, mischievous and clever — much like a monkey.
"Many people say people born in the Year of the Monkey are smart and have a very good imagination, but it is thought that their chances of achieving success are not very good as they are less capable of executing things," said Beijing resident Wang Jinping, whose zodiac sign is the monkey.
MORE BIRTHS EXPECTED
This year, not only has China's one-child policy been loosened to a two-child policy, but some superstitious Chinese will be raring to give birth. During the previous 12 months, the Year of the Sheep or Goat (it's the same character in Chinese), some people were reluctant to have children as they considered the year inauspicious and believed sheep babies would be more likely followers than leaders.
According to China's national statistics, there were 16.55 million births in 2015, compared with 16.87 million in 2014. Some state media reports have attributed the drop in births last year to the Year of the Sheep.
FIRES AND VIRUSES
Market ups and downs, fires and viruses, the Year of the Monkey is predicted to have them all.
Hong Kong feng shui master Louis Wong foresees "a lot of fires happening around the world, especially in the forests. So we need to watch out for fire hazards," he said. "Southeast Asia will see a lot of viruses or disease, so we need to be very careful about the Zika virus now."
To enhance a couple's relationship this year, Wong advises placing a pink crystal on the woman's side of the bedroom and a purple crystal on the man's side. He added: "And if we want them to have fewer quarrels and arguments, we can put a firecracker behind the door." While watching out for fire risks, of course.
Wong cautioned that bad luck is more likely to befall those who are monkeys — "they need to be careful about their career and wealth" — and tigers — "they need to be careful about accidents, especially car accidents."
Wong says the lucky signs in the coming year will be the dragon and rat. "For the people born in theYear of the Dragon it will be good for their career and wealth, while for the rat it is good for their relationships with people," he said.
JUNGLE OUT THERE
Also on the agenda: A revival in houquan, or monkey kung fu. Practitioners imitate monkey moves, in the same way as other strands of martial arts are based on animals such as tigers and white crane.
The monkey style dates to China's Western Han Dynasty around 200 B.C., said Chen Qifang, the head of Lin'an City Martial Arts Council in Zhejiang province. "It's a kind of kung fu that attempts to imitate a monkey's lively, mischievous and cute features with some of its typical moves like leaping, somersaulting, scratching ears and looking around as if for peaches or to see if someone is attacking its territory."
Because of its somersaults and other challenging moves, it's not as popular as other styles, says Chen.
MONKEY BUSINESS
The Year of the Monkey gives a little-needed excuse to reference the much loved Monkey King character from the 16th century adventure novel "Journey to the West." The supernatural Monkey King, also known as Sun Wukong, accompanied a monk on a journey to retrieve sacred scriptures and the story has inspired countless TV shows and movies over the years.
Unashamedly trying to capitalize on the new zodiac year, yet another Monkey King adaptation will be released on the first day of the lunar new year — Feb. 8. The 450 million yuan ($68 million) budget movie stars Aaron Kwok as Sun, Feng Shaofeng as the monk and Gong Li playing the skeleton demon.