by Liu Yinglun, Huang Xitian and Yu Lizhen

HONG KONG, Feb. 11 (Xinhua) -- Days before the 2026 Chinese New Year, which falls on Feb. 17, Hong Kong is oozing with festivities -- red lanterns, well-wishing flowers and spring couplet stands beckon residents and tourists.

The coming year of the horse serves as a ready inspiration. Local calligrapher Raymond Siu and his daughter Freya have adorned their stand at the iconic hillside steps of Sheung Wan with spring couplets containing the Chinese character "Ma" for horse.

"I have heaps of red couplet paper stashed for this Spring Festival," said Siu as he sliced a top scroll-sized piece off a large roll. As a Chinese New Year tradition, he expects writing for locals and tourists from around the world, especially overseas Chinese.

With Freya taken up his mantle, Siu's 40-year-old stand features novel twists -- brush stroke cartoon sketches on demand. A cheeky horse playing with the character "Fu" for fortune could be ready for grabs within five minutes.

"Every Spring Festival is a time for us to add to the city's festive joys and promote Chinese traditional art," said Freya, who has customized couplets for names like "Lisa" and "Mary" written in Chinese characters upon request.

Also reincarnating Chinese art are horse figures at commercial complexes across Hong Kong. The 3.5-meter-tall horses at Pacific Place donned embroidered drapes that took local craftsmen over 1,000 hours of handiwork, and life-sized Lego horses at tmtplaza paid homage to Xu Beihong's signature horse paintings.

Besides lanterns and spring couplets, flowers are another fixture for Chinese New Years. For days, the Mong Kok flower market has been teeming with shoppers on the lookout for the perfect plant to decorate homes and bring good luck.

At flower stands, staffers helped customers carry pots of butterfly orchid with a dozen blossoms cascading down ten branches. The purple ones are the most popular because they were believed to add wealth to general wellness.

Evelyn, a British expat working in finance in Hong Kong, has bought house plants for the Spring Festival for years. She picked out a pot of pussy willow because she was told by local friends that its Chinese name sounds like "money and house".

"It's an opportunity to learn about local traditions, and my home needs a little festive flair," she said.