Lunar New Year: how folding red envelopes opens up Chinese cultural traditions

Lunar New Year is an ideal time for cultural exchange that celebrates Chinese traditions, and one way to do that is making and giving lucky red packets, which also offer a link to the Chinese diaspora

Amy Wu

Published: 4:30pm, 7 Feb 2024

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A friend asks if I have folded lucky red envelopes before. I tell them about the hongbao workshop I will be leading. There’s some hesitation and a “hmmm”. No, I admit, but there’s always a first. Could someone even make their own envelopes?

The inspiration to hold a workshop at my local library on folding red envelopes – known as hongbao in Mandarin and lai see in Cantonese – for Lunar New Year was sparked by a desire to share more about my culture. I am first and foremost a Chinese-American. Since leaving Hong Kong and returning to the United States to work in 2013, I have made it a point to hold certain cultural traditions and holidays near and dear, and marking Lunar New Year is one of them.

Culture is a broad and welcoming platform to help uplift Chinese people in the US and celebrate our contributions, especially during these fast-changing and uncertain times. Cultural exchange is a platform for advocacy, even if its effect is not immediately obvious.

For example, I once held a Lunar New Year presentation at work. My colleagues, none of whom are Chinese, learned about the holiday through photos of my past celebrations and sampled foods symbolic to the holiday, such as dumplings representing lucky ingots and spring rolls serving as gold bars.

After the presentation, colleagues told me how much they enjoyed it and connected this holiday with Thanksgiving, where family gatherings are front and centre. As we are in an election year in the US, it can’t hurt to further uplift the wonderful aspects of our culture. The more we share, the more we gain an understanding of our respective histories and celebrate our uniqueness and similarities.

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Festive Chinese red packets are more than just a tradition

I have been the happy recipient of many a red envelope over the years. During my years living and working in Hong Kong and mainland China, I received them from grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins who were older than me. As part of tradition, the envelopes are given to children and single people.

My colleagues at work freely gave them out with wishes of good fortune, and I saw that they were handed to service workers such as restaurant employees and doormen. Many included the logos of businesses and banking institutions. I collected the envelopes for a while, each with their unique and often stunning designs, and enjoyed the crisp banknotes that came with them.

In prepping for the forthcoming workshop, there was the challenge of finding a process of do-it-yourself (DIY) red envelopes. I scoured YouTube and surprisingly discovered several helpful videos. More importantly, on the journey, I had the perfect excuse to dig further into my roots. The hongbao was a window into learning more about my own family.

My father recalled looking forward to receiving ya sui qian, or “suppressing age money”, from his grandparents during his boyhood years in Shanghai. The economy was struggling in China in the 1950s, and Lunar New Year was marked by hearty meals and lucky red envelopes. In keeping with tradition, children would also bai nian – that is, wish their elders a happy new year – and kowtow to show their respect before receiving the red envelopes.

“With the money, usually we used it to buy snacks throughout the rest of the year. There wasn’t a lot of money involved, so it didn’t go very far,” said my father, who has always been a generous giver of red envelopes as well. Growing up, I recall receiving many a birthday gift or even sometimes just a simple gift via a hongbao. Come to think of it, my father almost always uses hongbao for his gifts.

“It’s light, easy to carry, it has a good symbol, it reminds a person of his Chinese cultural roots and it’s very practical,” he said. “You can do whatever you want to do with the money. It was very symbolic of Chinese culture. I enjoy the Chinese culture part because that’s my roots.”

Tradition has transformed over the years, though, in part because of changing times. Adult children with good jobs now sometimes give red envelopes to their parents, I learned.

Others collect their envelopes not only for their design but as a reminder of their loved ones and the thought and care that went into them. Suwan Chien, a teacher at the Mid-Hudson Chinese Language Centre, has collected more than 30 over the years and calls each envelope a “representative token” of well wishes.

My fiancé and I recently spent a rainy weekend mastering the art of folding red envelopes; the good news is that they came out pretty well. In preparing for the workshop, we discovered that handmade lucky envelopes are not imagined. Origami enthusiasts practise the art form, and DIY envelopes are for craft lovers. Either way, something handmade feels much more heartfelt and thoughtful.

Finally, there is a comfort to keeping with tradition. I recently received a reminder from my aunt, who as a single person has been a long-time recipient of lucky red envelopes. She offered me envelopes from Chase Bank, telling me, “You are not married, no need to give out red envelopes.” I will, at least for one more year, be a happy recipient.

Amy Wu is a Chinese-American journalist based in New York and California who writes about cross-cultural issues