Monkey fervor climbs as Chinese new year nears

Commemorative coins for the Year of the Monkey. [Photo/Agencies]

Even though the Chinese Lunar New Year is still a month away, people are already going ape for the Year of the Monkey.

The Chinese lunar calendar assigns an animal symbol to each year in a 12-year cycle. According to the zodiac, 2016 is the Year of the Monkey.

On Wednesday night, Tian Meng, 62, anxiously stayed up until midnight in order to make online reservation of a set of commemorative coins issued by the central bank for the Year of the Monkey.

"I usually go to sleep very early at night, but I want to get the coins," explained the retiree from Hefei city, east China's Anhui province.

The People's Bank of China issues the coins on Jan 16 and began taking pre-orders at midnight on Thursday. By Thursday morning, all the coins were reserved.