The Hongbao Conundrum: A Guide to How Much to Give

This year’s Chinese New Year falls on Feb 10. One of the things that everyone associates with Chinese New Year is hongbao (红包) — money-filled red packets given to family, friends, colleagues, and employees. Every year around this time, I always find myself checking in with others about how much to put in the envelopes. I don’t want to give too much and make others uncomfortable, but I also don’t want to give too little and look like a cheapskate.

Before you channel your inner Oprah and start handing out hongbao to everyone you see, there’s some local etiquette that you need to know.

• If you’re a student and not working yet, your parents aren’t expecting a hongbao from you, nor are your nieces or nephews. In some families, regardless of age, students are still considered children and will still receive hongbao from their elders.
  

• If you’re working, then the children of your Chinese colleagues will be expecting hongbao if you see them on Chinese New Year’s Eve, day, or if you’re invited to a celebration dinner. Bumping into them on the street doesn’t count.
  

• If you’re married, you should definitely prepare a hongbao for your in-laws, but the best thing to do is to defer to your Chinese spouse because they’d know their family better than anyone.
  

• Avoid giving amounts with fours (RMB 4, RMB 40, RMB 400, etc.) because four sounds like “die” in Mandarin.
  

• On the other hand, the number six is considered lucky. Amounts like RMB 6, RMB 66, and RMB 666 are all lucky amounts.
  

• Avoid giving an amount in odd numbers because locals believe that good things come in pairs.

Apps like WeChat and Alipay have already made lives easier, and this includes giving hongbao. You no longer need to buy actual red envelopes and go get cash from the ATM. Giving out money is just a few clicks away. But with virtual greetings so common nowadays, are you required to send a hongbao for every generic Chinese New Year greeting you receive? There are the people who spam their entire contact list with some kind of emoji-adorned generic message, and ones who spam with a sticker. Do they get hongbao? Then there are the people who actually take the time to text or video chat with you. Hongbao-worthy? Maybe…

There's more to this story! This article was originally posted on our sister account, jingkids International.

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Images: Mina Yan, Bing, Pexels

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