The Year of the Ox will see loyalty and hard work triumph over cunning and fast profits - and stamp buffs can see the virtues reflected in a set of stamps which go on show today.
The issue - the 11th in a series of Lunar New Year stamps which began with the 1987 Year of the Rabbit - is due for release on January 17.
It includes stamps worth $1.30, $2.50, $3.10 and $5, a souvenir sheet containing all four and six-stamp booklets of the $1.30 and $3.10 varieties.
Official first-day covers, by designer Kan Tai-keung, are on sale at all post offices for $1 each and advance orders for serviced first-day covers will be accepted at all post offices from today until next Friday.
Fung shui expert Koon Lung said the Ox represented hard work in the fields and loyalty to peasants and, while it would not be a year of rocketing property markets or immediate returns, it would yield substantial long-term results.
'The Ox works hard and doesn't talk. In Hong Kong, people don't think too much about the future, they work hard for the short term,' Mr Koon said.