Monkeys on underwear buying spree
(eastday.com)
Updated: 2004-02-10 09:43

A couple of weeks after the Spring Festival, underwear and lingerie stores around Shanghai are still bustling with monkeys looking for a little extra luck this year.

Chinese tradition dictates that it brings good luck to wear red all year long during your birth year, or benmingnian as it is called in Chinese. Thus, monkeys should wear red this year, the Year of the Monkey according to the Chinese lunar calender.

For many that means wearing red underwear or panties all year, although others choose to wear jade jewelry on a red string around their necks.

"I sold more than 40 pairs of red panties every day during the Spring Festival," said a salesman surnamed Gu at Xiangyang Road Clothing Bazaar. He said many people born in the Year of the Monkey prefer red underwear because "some monkeys have red butts too."

Ma yunmei, who was born in 1920, the Year of Monkey, is among those who will wear red all year.

"Benmingnian is said to be unfortunate so my granddaughter bought me two pairs of red panties," said the 84-year-old woman.

The traditional belief is followed across the mainland and in other areas with large Chinese populations.

An underwear shop in Singapore has sold more than 1,000 pairs of red festive undergarments emblazoned with a funky monkey in the last two months, the Straits Times reported.

Jewelry stores are also benefiting from the tradition. Jade monkeys are selling well as many "people believe wearing jade can dispel evil," said a cashier at the Yuyuan Garden Shopping Center.

Sociologists say the booming sales have more to do with development than superstition.

"It is the result of economic development since people in well-developed areas become more aware of health and living standards," said Ma Qianfeng, a lecturer at Fudan University. She said many people want to believe that wearing a talisman during one's birth year can help them avoid misfortune, such as SARS.

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