CRI听力:Monkey Year Brings Business Opportunity

According to traditional belief, each year is characterized by one of 12 animals in the Chinese zodiac.

This Lunar New Year, which starts on February 8, has been bringing him more business than usual as it will be the Year of the Monkey.

Beijing craftsman Zhao Yongqi specializes in making Peking Opera monkey masks.

He says the Year of Monkey is unique.

"In the animal kingdom, the monkey is a very mischievous creature, so every Year of the Monkey is quite chaotic, restless, just like the monkey's personality, quite restless."

Originally from a poor mountain village in nearby Hebei province, Zhao migrated to Beijing for work in the 1980s where he began training under an uncle who specialized in Peking Opera makeup. And later, he discovered his passion for painting monkey masks.

The artform can be traced back to 12th century in, the Song Dynasty, but it was hit by the Cultural Revolution, and when Zhao Yongqi was starting to learn the makeup skill, few artists remained.

Zhao said he didn't think he would be able to make a business out of it at first.

But before long, he had changed his mind.

"We Chinese have a saying, that good business is no match for artistic skills. If you can learn an artistic skill then you can support a family, a big family. That's why I learned this skill. Gradually I started learning, little by little. From the beginning I studied a bit and then gradually perfected my skills, then developed my business."

It's widely believed among the Chinese that buying objects in the form of the zodiac animal will bring luck.

Zhao's monkey masks, depending on the design, sell from 60 yuan to several hundred.

Wu Changzhen, a gift shop owner who has bought several monkey masks from Zhao, said they are in high demand.

"As it's about to be the Year of the Monkey, a lot of monkey art is already selling well, and selling out. The supply is not meeting demand. Because for China, the monkey is a symbol of real intelligence, people really like it."

Wang Zhubing, a local art collector, said Zhao is a rare artist.

"It's very rare that people will devote all of their attention to develop this art and let it shine. I think it's because he has this spirit to really show off this traditional Chinese art and he works very hard to achieve this. He belongs to a minority of people."

For the upcoming Year of the Monkey, Zhao said he's also opening up a gallery later this month in Tianjin municipality to commemorate the primate.

For CRI, this is Luo Bin.