CHINA: CHINESE WOMEN DON RED UNDERWEAR TO WARD OFF BAD LUCK AS THEY USHER IN THE NEW YEAR

Record ID: 860625

  • Title: CHINA: CHINESE WOMEN DON RED UNDERWEAR TO WARD OFF BAD LUCK AS THEY USHER IN THE NEW YEAR
  • Date: 20th January 2004
  • Summary: BEIJING, CHINA (JANUARY 20, 2004) (REUTERS) EXTERIOR OF MARKET WITH RED LANTERNS INTERIOR OF MARKET RED UNDERPANTS WITH MONKEY LOGO SELLERS ARRANGING UNDERWEAR MONKEY LOGO ON RED UNDERPANTS PEOPLE LOOKING GIRL LOOKING (SOUNDBITE)(Mandarin) ZHANG RAN, SAYING: "According to Chinese tradition, red symbolises good luck. It can ward off bad luck or unpleasant things. So people who are born under this sign should wear red." PEOPLE IN MARKET UNDERWEAR RED BRA UNDERWEAR SELLER PUTTING OUT MORE RED UNDERWEAR MORE RED UNDERWEAR (SOUNDBITE)(Mandarin) CUI YIXIN, UNDERWEAR SELLER, SAYING: "Red underwear has been selling well before the Spring Festival. People want to give red underwear and clothes as presents to others." MONKEY TOY RED BRA
  • Embargoed: 4th February 2004 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: BEIJING, CHINA
  • City:
  • Country: China
  • Topics: Quirky,Light / Amusing / Unusual / Quirky
  • Reuters ID: LVA4S9ETPOIP6APV0V40K3TH03OZ
  • Aspect Ratio:
  • Story Text: Chinese women don red underwear to ward off bad luck as they usher in the new year.
    What a Scotsman wears under his kilt has always been a topic of hot debate.
    But as the Lunar New Year looms in China, there's no mystery about what will lurk beneath the suits and skirts of anyone born in the Year of the Monkey.
    Bright red underwear will be the fashion must for the next 12 months. And if red's not your colour, then you can opt for underwear with a cheeky monkey on the front instead.
    People born under the sign of the Monkey are being warned to hang up their boring white briefs and jazzy boxer shorts and opt for ruby red if they want to ward off misfortune.
    "According to Chinese tradition, red symbolises good luck. It can ward off bad luck or unpleasant things. So people who are born under this sign should wear red," said shopper Zhang Ran.
    Soothsayers have warned that - like the temperamental animal from which the Lunar New Year borrows its sign - 2004 will keep everyone on their toes with revolution and change.
    So in Beijing, human monkeys are taking no chances and donning bright red under their winter long johns.
    Lingerie seller Cui Yixin (pron: Tsway Yee-hsin) said red was all the rage.
    "Red underwear has been selling well before the Spring Festival. People want to give red underwear and clothes as presents to others."
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2013. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
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