Red envelope

In Chinese and other East and Southeast Asian societies, a red envelope or a red packet (Mandarin: hóngbāo) is a monetary gift which is given during holidays or special occasions such as weddings, graduation or the birth of a baby.

Usage

Red envelopes are gifts presented at social and family gatherings such as weddings or holidays such as Chinese New Year. The red color of the envelope symbolizes good luck and is a symbol to ward off evil spirits. It is also gifted when a person is visiting as a gesture of kindness for visiting. The act of requesting red packets is normally called tao hongbao (Chinese: 討紅包; pinyin: tǎo hóngbāo)

The amount of money contained in the envelope usually ends with an even digit, in accordance with Chinese beliefs; odd-numbered money gifts are traditionally associated with funerals. The exception being the number 9 as the pronunciation of nine (Chinese: 九) is homophonous to the word long (久) and is the largest digit.^[1] Still in some regions of China and in its diaspora community, odd numbers are favored for weddings because they are difficult to divide. There is also a widespread tradition that money should not be given in fours, or the number four should not appear in the amount, such as in 40, 400 and 444, as the pronunciation of the word four (四) is homophonous to the word death (死). When giving money, new bills are normally given instead of crispy or dirty bills. It is common to see long queues outside of banks before Chinese New Year with people waiting to get new dollar bills.

source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_envelope

WeChat Red Envelopes

WeChat red envelope (or WeChat red packet) is an online money transfer with a colorful message via WeChat (a messaging app).

In recent years, it has become popular among young people to send “red envelopes” via WeChat as a greeting. It has become a new way to greet friends or relatives during the Chinese New Year period.

On New Year’s Eve, the CCTV Spring Festival Gala attracts people with its wonderful performances and cyber red envelopes. While watching the performances, people have the chance to win cyber red envelopes by shaking their phones ceaselessly.

最早是银行推出的送“电子红包”业务，但该银行对这一推出的新业务并没有做过多宣传。后来，随着互联网消费的普及，网络运营商（网站）在春节等假日期间，通过组织互联网线上活动派发红包，逐渐成为让利网友的一种促销式营销模式。2014年春节，很多网络族通过支付宝、财付通、微信支付等第三方支付工具给客户、亲朋好友等派发红包，电子红包也指一种新的红包派发方式。电子商务开始渗透进节日的各个环节。比如，基于网络消费的“电子红包”，摆脱了“红纸包+现金”的传统模式，深受年轻消费者的欢迎。

操作方式

送红包者可以把想说的话或祝福语写在电子红包上，一并送出去，十分方便、快捷，根本不需要当面奉送，基本上做到了“天知，地知，你知，我知，其他人谁也不知”电子红包送出后，对方只要登陆网上银行，就可进行账户查询、银行卡明细查询和网银转账明细查询。用户发放完“红包”后，如果好友迟迟不通过银行卡提现，“红包”只会永远存放在好友微信界面的“新年红包”里，并不会自动返回发放者的账户中。这也意味着一旦用户不绑定银行卡，尽管红包抢到手了，却只能变成死钱，而发放者无形中也遭受了一笔经济损失。

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