Experience a small sampling of images of Chinese New Year’s lucky decor around Hong Kong in the year of the monkey.
It’s the year of the Fire Monkey! If you’re anything like me and you weren’t feeling the year anew in January, Chinese New Year is the chance for a do-over and to turn your luck around. In 2016, Monday February 8th was the day to bid farewell to the sheep and welcome the fiery monkey.
This year the general consensus about the monkey is that it’s clever, tricky, and moves quickly & erratically. Therefore it is wise to look twice before you leap when making big decisions this year. There will be ups and downs but we’ll be able to persevere with good judgement, a sense of calm and focus, and a lively sense of humour.
Several years ago, a Canadian friend of mine asked me to send some Chinese New Year photos to her because her children were curious to know more about it (and if I remember correctly, they were doing a project for school). Being the good friend that I am, I captured an assortment of CNY images for her including some lion dance costumes and I even sent them an assortment of traditional decorations in the mail.
This year, as I was looking around at the festive decor I figured it was a good idea to share it with all of you as I did for my friend and her family. Maybe you’re familiar with the lucky ornaments and traditions surrounding the lunar new year, maybe you live somewhere that doesn’t celebrate the lunar new year with the same fervor as your homeland (or not at all), or maybe you’ve never really had anyone explain to you what it’s all about. Your fortune is good today my friends because I’m going to share a little taste of Chinese New Year with you…
Fruit & Flowers
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- chrysanthemum
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- orchids
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- pussy willows, kumquats, chrysanthemums, orchids
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- plum blossom tree in a mall
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- kumquats
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- tangerines
Lanterns
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- red lantern at the entrance to a building
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- small red lanterns hanging on a chandelier in a restaurant
Monkeys
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- traditional craft monkey ornament
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- high end monkeys in display window for Bottega Veneta
Threshold Fortune Decor
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- a happy character holding a gold ingot, firecrackers
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- fortune symbol “fok”
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- fortune symbol upside down, fish ornament
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- hanging chili peppers
Candy Dishes & Red Pockets
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- monkey, lion, firecrackers, gold ingot
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- candy dish to welcome the kids
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- red pockets aka “lai see”
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- lucky decor monkeys & peaches
Lions & Dragons
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- mall dragon decor
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- dragon puppet controlled by sticks
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- Zheng Fei Lion costume (it took 1 year to build)
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- lion dance performers in costume. (Photo by Nicole Boisvert. Thanks girl!)
For your reference, here’s a link to great step-by-step guide about the meaning of the Lion Dance.
Best Lion Dance Performance (Kennedy Town, Hong Kong) ** NEW **
Lion Dance Drummer Video (Times Square, Hong Kong)
Lion Dance, Green Costume & Young Performers (Times Square, Hong Kong)
Originally, I was going to tell you more about the symbols and meanings of the lucky decor (some of them are to bring fortune & some of them are to scare bad spirits away). However, it’s taken me a week to collect these images for you, and ages to upload it all, so instead I’ll leave you with a link that does a good job at explaining most of them. Feel free to ask questions in the comments!
Hidden or Implied Meanings of Chinese Charms & Symbols
Most of these images have been captured by myself and you can also view them on my Instagram account. Come find me! I hope you have a fun, fortunate, & exciting year of the monkey. Best wishes to all of you!
