Monkeying around in Hong Kong

The Chinese New Year is one of Hong Kong's biggest and most spectacular festivals. The explosion of colours, fireworks displays, vibrant music and dance, and monkey themed art are all part of the extravaganza in this super-busy world city and international commerce capital

A red monkey with an impish glint in his eye, swinging from one branch to another stared at me from the window of large apparel store at Hong Kong airport. And looking around, I saw yet another, and then some more. Inside the city of Hong Kong I was surrounded by them-in upmarket stores, at streetside markets, on hoardings and billboards, on chocolate wrappers, in the hands of children and adults and on their clothes and accessories....The monkeys were Everywhere!!

Of course, as Indians, we are used to monkeys. We worship Hanuman, a deity in monkey form at so many shrines across the country. And countless simians are seen at forts and temples in heritage spots as well as our urban spaces too.

But in Hong Kong, it was a virtual deluge! We were visiting Hong Kong during the start of the Chinese New Year. And 2016 is the Year of the Monkey across China. This monkey theme is on display and will continue to dominate the art and culture and commercial sales of Hong Kong until end-January 2017, when preparations for the next year with a new animal name will begin.

So, in what is the start of yearlong thematic celebration, there were countless variations and designs on the monkey theme, revealing an astonishing creativity! We saw the most imaginatively represented simians on clothes especially T-shirts, balloons, hats, phone cases, wall-hangings, stationery, home-decor items, cutlery and crockery, furnishings, etc. We found them in inflatable toys, desktop objects and unique novelty items being sold all over!

There are 12 animals which appear in the Chinese Zodiac and each Chinese year is characterised by and named after one like ox, tiger, rat, etc. Thus, each animal theme is repeated every 12 years. So, the next Year of the Monkey will be 2028. The monkey symbolises good luck, wealth, and honour. People born in the Year of the Monkey are believed to be lively, quick-witted, innovative and clever with regard to wealth and career.

Similar to India, the Chinese traditional New Years does not coincide with the western calendar beginning January 1. For example, in India, several states celebrate their new year around March-April. This year, the Chinese New Year fell on February 8.

Again, back home, we see astrologers make predictions for each year based on its name. In similar fashion, the Chinese too predict the year's trends and events based on the year's name ie the animal represented. As for individuals, the Year of the Monkey has different results based on which animal year he/she has been born in. We found soothsayers across Hong Kong, many of them seated in small stalls, offering their services, telling customers what awaited them in the days to come.

Whatever lay ahead, the first week of the new year was a magnificent extravaganza for its citizens and visitors like us. The skies erupted with a dazzling display of fireworks as Hong Kong welcomed 2016. The famous Victoria Harbour was the setting for this amazing show.

Across the city, there were music performances, dance shows, martial-art displays, Chinese street food stands and food festivals at restaurants, special sales of all kinds of consumer goods, craft stalls, acrobatics, pyrotechnics, and so on to entertain us. A highlight was the Grand Parade featuring a series of floats from different countries. All this added to the frenzied celebrations in Hong Kong, already known as the city which never sleeps!

It was an explosion of colours on the streets. Millions of flowers in various hues-single-stemmed ones and bunches and potted flowering plants were sold on streets thronged by families. Like Indians, the Chinese too consider buying/gifting flowers an auspicious custom during a festival. "Only we do not wear them in our hair," said a Hong Kong architect who has visited India several times on assignment. "My wife, however, loves to buy and wear the jasmine strings when in south India."

We visited the Wishing Tree around which hundreds had gathered to “hang their wishes". The Wishing Tree is synonymous with good fortune and auspiciousness and the belief is that hanging your hopes for the coming year on it will help realise your dreams. We were reminded of the Indian tradition wherein people tie bundles on tree branches for wish fulfilment.

As Indians, we know what humunguous numbers of people crowd temples during festival days! Here, In Hong Kong or for that matter, any part of China too, a festival will find thousands of burning incense sticks and prayerful devotees at temples.

Seeking divine blessings on holy days is as much of a custom among the Chinese as Indians. At the Giant Buddha and its famous monastery as well as at the Wong Tai Sin Temple, we walked through clouds of smoke from the incense sticks-some of which were a staggering four-feet in height! Our standard agarbathies seemed minisicule in comparison!

The city's major tourist attractions - the awardwinning, conservation-conscious Ocean Park; Disneyland; Tsim Sha Tsui promenade area; and the Grand Buddha were all abuzz with the monkey theme in their decorations and merchandise at their souvenier shops. This will be a continuing display till 2017, we learnt.

After our Tiger Air flight and the Tiger Plus and Tiger Connect experiences, we have had a trip full of animals, quipped a fellow traveller and his family, whom we had met on the flight and ran into again at the mall at Kowloon. To him and his family, the economical flights of Tiger Air and its value-added offers, were the best way to save up money for shopping sprees, he said, pointing to their bulging shopping bags. And yes, most of the bags had prancing monkeys printed on them!

On the final leg of the visit, we experienced one of Hong Kong's most charming, old-world attractions--The Peak Tramway. This Victorian-era Peak Tram is a funicular railway which runs to Victoria Peak, offers fabulous views over Hong Kong harbour, its famed skyscrapers and the New Territories. The gentle ride in this old-fashioned form of transport offered the perfect contrast to the madly hectic pace and super-busy lifestyle that one witnesses in the rest of Hong Kong.