CHINESE RAISE HOPE ON MONKEY BUSINESS

A village in rural Henan province, where land is too hard and rough to grow crops, residents have for centuries relied on training performing monkeys to make money. And as the Year of the Monkey approaches, they are hoping for bumper business.

A small temple devoted to the deity of the Monkey King, a popular figure from Chinese folklore and literature, sits on the outskirts of Baowan.

Zhang Zhijiu, a 60-year-old former monkey busker said, "Since this will be the Year of the Monkey, and we will be putting on (monkey performance) competitions for tourists, we all need to visit this temple and burn some incense.”

Only for the 2,500 villagers of Baowan, monkey breeding and raising is illegal across China without a proper license.

Monkeys wearing tight metal collars, are taught to ride bicycles and walk on stilts. One trainer was throwing daggers at a monkey balanced on a wooden board on a rolling cylinder. The animal was deftly catching the daggers and putting them between its teeth.

57 years, Fan Haoran, a trainer at Qilingang Monkey Farm who traveled the country monkey busking for decades, says the key is to develop a relationship.

"Firstly, you have to show concern and take care of them. Secondly, you must proceed slowly, little by little, and not rush. For instance, when shaking hands - from the beginning, little by little - and then it will remember your hand."

But for China, which has spent decades trying to end rural poverty, animal rights have been almost non-existent until recently, and then mostly among urban pet owners.

Zhang Junran, president of Xinye County’s monkey breeding association, admitted that Baowan’s treatment of monkeys has been controversial, but he said the current methods were humane.

"Our way of training monkeys to perform was not the most educated (in the past). Especially when it came to their living conditions. But these monkeys also have lives, and they have brought us so many benefits, which have made such major changes to our lives. We must be good to our monkeys,” said Zhang.

Zhang Zhijie, 57, keeps a four year-old macaque tied on a leash just outside his home. Zhang comes from a line of monkey trainers and has made a small fortune performing across the country.