In honour of the Chinese Zodiac Year of the Monkey I thought I’d join in Haiku Horizon’s prompt which happens to be Monkey.
https://haikuhorizons.wordpress.com/2016/02/14/haiku-horizons-prompt-monkey/
I watched a very interesting TV programme last night, Chinese New Year The Biggest Celebration on Earth. I hope to complete a children’s book about Chinese New Year so I was drawn to watching this. It featured the Snub Nosed Monkey, such a charming fellow. These monkeys are an endangered species. They have been hunted to near extinction. That is beyond horrible……. but the good news is there is a rescue operation in hand. A dedicated man looks after these charming fellows and collects their nuggets of poo so it can be analysed to check their health. That must be quite a job, plastic gloves are a prerequisite, but he takes it very seriously. In fact he is so skilled that he can glance at each sample of poo and tell exactly which monkey produced it! Quite an unusual skill.. He must love those monkeys..
Do find out more about the snub-nosed monkey, he seems to be a delightful monkey full of character:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golden_snub-nosed_monkey
More than one billion people travel from the cities to the countryside at Chinese New Year to be reunited with their families at this all important time. Can you imagine? That is a huge migration of folk, involving all manner of transport: plane, car, motorbike, and police car…. The Hairy Bikers couldn’t rev up in their usual style in China without the necessary documentation so they ended up travelling in the back of a police car! These Hairy fellows learnt how to make Congee, a warming porridge made of pork, rice, and spring onions, served at the roadside to travellers returning to see their families at Chinese New Year.
This programme continued to fascinate me with its commentary on the Ice City, a massive winter wonderland carved out of massive slabs of ice in Harbin, the largest city of Heilongjiang province, in China. It is so cold in this province of China that the elderly locals are acclimitised to the extreme cold. These hardy pensioners dive into a swimming pool to engage in a spot of …… ice swimming! The thought just sends me into an extreme shiver ……
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harbin
My haiku:
The snub nosed monkey,
Forest high flier, cool dude.
Keep him protected.
Hope all you Monkeys out there are having a very Happy and Prosperous New Year. I’m a rabbit in the Chinese zodiac…. I like to hop about and put my feet up with a good book. What about you?
Marje @ Kyrosmagica xx
That’s a great haiku, Marje. 🙂
Thank you Judy. 🙂
sweet 🙂
Thanks. 😉
Interesting post, Marje. So you are working on a children’s book! How exciting! Do tell more. You seem to have gathered lots of information for your new book. I just checked and found I’m born in the year of th Monkey!
Oh that’s good to know Annika. I’ve been working on the children’s book on and off for a while. I tend to flit about a bit and write different things!
I’m a rabbit too. As I recall, rabbits and monkeys are a good love match.
Great post, and haiku, Marje! 🙂
Thank you Al. 🙂
Wonderful post, Marje… I love all things about the Orient and enjoyed this history lesson, both on the snub-nose monkeys and Harbin.. love your Haiku.. indeed, please keep these monkeys safe 🙂
That’s a haiku with a great insight, Marje.
Only hard work for me this year… I am a rooster…
Thank you glad you enjoyed the haiku. A rooster… hard work …… plus time for fun too… 🙂
Always, Marje 🙂
very informative ! And the haiku is beautiful !
Thank you so much. 🙂
I thoroughly enjoyed your haiku and informative post, Marje. 🙂
Thank you, glad you enjoyed my haiku and post. 🙂
🙂
I like your haiku and all of the info!
Thanks Lynz. 🙂
Very nice!
I loved the haiku. I’m all about protecting animals. Anything you can do to create awareness is very cool in my book. 😉
Thanks Vashti. I agree, I can’t understand how people want to hurt animals, and hunt them to extinction it is beyond me.
That’s hard for me to comprehend also. I guess some are governed by the mighty dollar and don’t care about anything else. 🙁
I’m a dragon. Hopefully, my ego isn’t too big 🙂
A dragon is meant to be a great sign!!
I’ve always loved dragons 🙂
Me too. 🙂
Happy Year of the Monkey Marje! Wish you a year full of creativities; joy and laughter!!
Vivienne X
Thank you Vivienne, and Happy Year of the Monkey to you too! Wishing you all the very best. Marje x