2017-01-19 Thu

New HK$10, HK$20, and HK$50 banknotes celebrating the Lunar New Year were released for circulation in Hong Kong on 16th January by its primary banks. Since many people turned up at banks to get a fresh banknote, the service had to be terminated shortly. Banks opened at 8 am and the notes were distributed until noon.

Everybody was eager to get their old notes exchanged with new notes for lai see, or red packets, for the Lunar New Year. People were asked to use nearly new notes and not the ones just out from the printers for environmental reasons as advised by the Hong Kong Monetary Authority. One of the banks offered a "ready pack" with the popular 100 HK$20 bills and 20 HK$50 ones.