Four weeks ahead of the Chinese Lunar New Year, netizens are having a blast at the symbol for the coming year - the Horse Month of the Monkey Year. The new year, also called Spring Festival, begins this year on Feb. 8 and will last until the Lantern Festival which falls on Feb. 23, according to The Telegraph.
The humor that users of Weibo and other social media sites in China are into is because that phrase, according to Chinese slang, is a date in the unforeseeable future. It's as good as saying things or events wished for in 2016 would likely not happen or would take a very long time before it takes place, explains Chinadaily.
Among the things that Chinese netizens saw as having a slim chance of occurring are finding a girlfriend, writes Wei Lin De Cen, a microblogger. One reason behind that pessimism is the gender imbalance in China due to the three-decade-long one-child policy that resulted in males exceeding females by millions, which translates into many men having to resign to their fate of being bachelors for life.
With China's economic slowdown, it would not be surprising that one microblogger wished for a salary increase this year, although the netizen concedes it is wishful thinking only.
As the most important holiday in Chinese calendar fast approaches, views to a topic page on Sina Weibo, Twitter's equivalent in the Asian giant, dedicated to Huo Nian Ma Yue - the Chinese translation of the New Year zodiac sign symbol - has exceeded 60 million. Messages posted, meanwhile, has gone beyond the 70,000 mark.
There are 12 animals designated each month in the Chinese zodiac. Each year, also on a 12-year cycle, has a different animal assigned, resulting in 2016 becoming the Horse Month of the Monkey Year.