The new lunar year is the one the Chinese will go bananas over.
On February 8, the zodiac calendar enters the Year of the Monkey - the ninth of 12 animal signs. Plastic monkeys are adorning shopping centres and office buildings, and government departments have been giving out toy monkeys.
Having a baby in the Year of the Monkey is generally thought to be more auspicious than in that of its predecessor, the sheep, and the cute creature is in any case largely beloved by the masses for its playful and human-like characteristics, despite a penchant for stealing food.
The new lunar year is already boosting a fighting style that imitates the movements of a monkey.
Less happily, feng shui predictions foresee fire, disease and volatile stocks.
A look at what mischief the Year of the Monkey may have in store.
MISCHIEF
Those born in the Year of the Monkey are held to be playful, mischievous and clever - much like a monkey.
"Many people say people born in the Year of the Monkey are smart and have a very good imagination, but it is thought that their chances of achieving success are not very good as they are less capable of executing things," said Beijing resident Wang Jinping, whose zodiac sign is the monkey.
As is customary when it is the year of one's zodiac, Wang, who turns 60 this year, will be wearing red to ward off bad spirits.
MORE BIRTHS EXPECTED
This year, not only has China's one-child policy been loosened to a two-child policy, but some superstitious Chinese will be raring to give birth. During the previous 12 months, the Year of the Sheep or Goat (it's the same character in Chinese), some people were reluctant to have children as they considered the year inauspicious and believed sheep babies would be more likely followers than leaders.
According to China's national statistics, there were 16.55 million births in 2015, compared with 16.87 million in 2014.
FIRES AND VIRUSES
Market ups and downs, fires and viruses, the Year of the Monkey is predicted to have them all.
Hong Kong feng shui master Louis Wong foresees "a lot of fires happening around the world, especially in the forests. So we need to watch out for fire hazards," he said. "Southeast Asia will see a lot of viruses or disease, so we need to be very careful about the Zika virus now."
Wong cautioned that bad luck is more likely to befall those who are monkeys - "they need to be careful about their career and wealth" - and tigers - "they need to be careful about accidents, especially car accidents".
A Hong Kong brokerage that publishes a tongue-in-cheek annual feng shui report said the Chinese territory's Hang Seng stock index would perform decently until a downward swing mid-year, followed by a recovery.
JUNGLE OUT THERE
Also on the agenda: A revival in houquan, or monkey kung fu. Practitioners imitate monkey moves, in the same way other strands of martial arts are based on animals such as tigers and white crane.
The monkey style dates back to China's Western Han Dynasty around 200BC, said Chen Qifang, the head of Lin'an City Martial Arts Council in Zhejiang province. "It's a kind of kung fu that attempts to imitate a monkey's lively, mischievous and cute features with some of its typical moves like leaping, somersaulting, scratching ears and looking around as if for peaches or to see if someone is attacking its territory."
