A woman, one of hundreds who queued up outside banks yesterday morning, flashes a handful of newly-issued notes, customarily used as lai see money over the Lunar New Year. At the Mong Kok branch of HSBC, around 100 people had turned up before the bank opened.
This year, the branch - one of those which has attracted long queues in the past - started note changing services half an hour early, at 8.30am. It also started letting people in at 7.45am. Other major branches across the city will also be offering services half an hour early until tomorrow.
The bank also provided packages to reduce waiting time. Two packages on offer are HK$2,000 worth of HK$20 notes and HK$2,000 worth of HK$50 notes. Each set comes with a mix of brand new and good-as-new notes already wrapped in a stack, and with spring couplets and empty lai see packets as gifts.
The government has been urging people to use used notes to avoid the environmental impact of printing new ones in recent years, but many people remain more traditional.
A retiree surnamed Chan said he preferred new notes to used ones. "We are greeting the coming of a new year," he said. "Everyone likes new things."
A woman, surnamed Wong, agreed: "The new notes have no fold marks or wrinkles. They look more appealing."
