Would you wait in line for more than 12 hours to get a red packet from Pony Ma? One Tencent employee did

Long line of employees started forming on Monday evening to get a red packet from Tencent’s senior management

Reading Time:2 minutes

Tencent Holding employees wait in line to receive red packets from senior management at the company's headquarters in Shenzhen. Photo: Handout

Published: 7:00am, 13 Feb 2019Updated: 8:31am, 13 Feb 2019

Those people are not lining up to buy new iPhones, Lady M’s signature mille-crepes cake, or HeyTea’s cheese-topped drink.

They are employees of Tencent Holdings waiting outside the internet giant’s headquarters in Shenzhen to receive red packets from company chairman Pony Ma Huateng and other senior management.

A long line started forming from Tuesday morning for a chance to get a second of face time with Ma, who in Lunar New Year tradition personally hands out red envelopes containing money to employees as a form of good wishes. The most diehard of the hongbao getters was in place since before 8pm on Monday, meaning the first in line had waited overnight for more than 12 hours to be the first person to get the “blessing” from Ma, who was dressed in a bright red jumper.

Tencent chairman Pony Ma Huateng hands out red envelopes to employees for Lunar New Year.

Photos showed the line was so long that it snaked around the new headquarters of Tencent in Shenzhen’s Nanshan district, all the way up to the 48th floor of the building, where senior management were greeting employees. Staff queued in the shape of a giant “fu” character, which means prosperity.

“I waited for three hours and got 200 yuan in total from the four executives,” said a Tencent employee. “Not everyone gets the same amount. It depends how lucky you are.”