Macao Post released a new set of stamps and souvenirs featuring monkeys to welcome Chinese Year of the Monkey on Jan 21. [Photo/Xinhua]

On Jan 21, Macao Post released a new set of stamps and souvenirs featuring monkeys to welcome Chinese Year of the Monkey which falls on Feb 8 this year.

With the application of imprint technology the characteristics of monkeys are vividly demonstrated, adding happiness and hilarity to the New Year.

Wu meiqi, director of the Stamp Collection Apartment at Macao Post noted that the design is based on the combination of various shapes of Monkey and traditional Chinese culture wuxing, the five elements including metal, wood, water, fire and earth.

Considering the year of monkey belongs to the category of "fire", designers focus on the theme "Fire Monkey" by presenting the scene in the classic Chinese novel Journey to the West in which the main character Sun Wukong, the Monkey King puts down the conflagration on the Fire Mountain with a magical fan.

Consisting of five stamps, the monkey set of stamps is the ninth issue in the third 12-year Lunar New Year series released by Macao Post.

A total of 650,000 stamps will be on sale starting Jan 22 as well as other souvenirs including material sheets, postcards, unique auspicious pendants and teapots with monkey forms.