Monkey fervor climbs as Chinese new year nears

The scene is similar in the nearby city of Jinhua, where businesses are busy introducing their latest monkey products to customers.

"This year's major products are lucky paper with the Chinese character 'Fu' (happiness) and couplets on scrolls," a businesswoman surnamed Lu said as she showed the products to a customer in Jinhua's Dongyang Mall. "Gold ingots with monkey images are also very popular."

Even foreign businesses are cashing in on the fervor, adding primates to imported watches, chocolates and charm bracelets found on e-commerce site Taobao.com.

Meanwhile, a trailer for the film "Monkey King 2" starring Hong Kong actor Louis Koo has just been released. The sequel to one of China's most successful domestic films will be released on the first day of Spring Festival, Feb 8.

Enthusiasm for monkey products shows the Chinese people's excitement for the country's biggest holiday, which is generally celebrated with family reunions and is a time of happiness, courage and hope, said Wang Kaiyu, a researcher at the Anhui Academy of Social Sciences.

Zhou Hua, a kindergarten teacher from Hefei, has just finished embroidering a monkey for her daughter.

"My daughter was born in the Year of the Monkey, and this is my gift for her for the lunar year," Zhou said. "I hope she will be as happy and lively as a monkey."

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