Monkeys bring Chinese New Year festivity to Chicago

An artistic Monkey King appears in a window at the Macy’s State Street in Chicago to mark the Chinese New Year. [Photo/Xinhua]

Chicago is filled with joy and festivity as it celebrates China's Lunar New Year, with lots of decoration and activities featuring monkey in the city, which aims to boost its attraction to Chinese visitors.

Entering China's Year of Monkey, it is easy to find images of monkey in Chicago, the third largest U.S. city that Mayor Rahm Emanuel aims to make as the top destination in the U.S. for Chinese New Year celebrations.

No one can find more monkeys elsewhere than in Bloomingdale's on the Magnificent Mile, where tens of paper-cut monkeys hang high along the top-end store's major aisles, and porcelain monkeys either wear a sunglass or carry a bag to greet customers.

Bloomingdale's is not the only shopping mall that has monkey as decoration. Macy's, a U.S. chain retailer, granted a prized window for the Chinese Ministry of Culture to install a red face of "Monkey King" in Beijing opera. Passers-by are fascinated by the monkey who keeps winking at them.

The retailers certainly do not stop at having monkeys as decoration. Bloomingdale's is giving out Chinese New Year red envelopes and KatCheung Monkey bags to customers. Customers are also getting coupons with face values of 8, 88 and 888 dollars, as "eight" sounds like enrichment in Cantonese Chinese.

The Art Institute of Chicago Monday has kicked off its 2016 Chinese New Year celebration with the theme of "Monkeying Around."

Monday takes the 9th place on the Chinese zodiac circle of 12 animals.

The museum is offering Chinese language tour guide books, standard Chinese Audio Guide and Chinese food at its cafe during the holiday season.