Happy New Year!

过年啦！

It’s Chinese New Year!

中国农历新年就要到啦

Wishing you all the best!

祝大家虎虎生威

Yes!

没错

It’s time for red envelopes,

又到了发红包的时候

or hongbao in Mandarin,

普通话叫作“红包”

lai see in Cantonese.

广东话称之为“利是”

But the tradition of giving red envelopes might differ slightly across the country, especially in Guangdong and Hong Kong/ Macao special administrative regions!

但是全中国各地发压岁钱的习俗又略有不同尤其是在粤港澳地区

Why?

为什么会这样呢

Let’s figure it out!

让我们一起来一探究竟吧

Giving away lai see is a New Year tradition in Chinese communities around the globe.

派利是已经成为了全球华人的新年传统习俗

The term lai see, loosely means“blessing”.

利是有着“美好祝福”的意思

When sending laisee, people believe that the good luck is also passed on.

人们希望通过派利是将好运传递出去

Friends in Cantonese communities always receive lots of lai see.

广东的朋友们过年总是会收到很多利是

People may also assume they will get lots of money.

所以大家可能会以为他们能收到好多钱

However, despite of the economic strength of Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao, the amount inside their lai see always ranked the least compared with other provinces.

其实尽管粤港澳地区经济实力雄厚当地利是里的钱数却远不如其他省份的多

Cantonese people pay attention to the portent of the red envelopes,

广东人封利是是讲意头的

not the amount money.

不是越大越好

They usually put twenty, sixty or eighty in the red envelopes.

红包里的金额通常是2060或80

And they don’t like“four”, because“four”shares the same pronunciation as death in Chinese.

大家会避开4因为中文里4和“死”的发音相近

Parents usually will prepare larger red envelopes for their children.

父母通常会给自己的孩子准备“大红包”

And the amount put inside the red envelopes not only depends on the closeness of the relationship, but also on the economic status of the giver, so it’s not weird at all if you receive a very big red envelope.

关系的亲疏以及发红包人的经济状况都会影响到红包金额的大小所以如果你收到超大红包也不用觉得奇怪

In other Chinese communities,

在中国其他地区

red envelopes are only given among families,

通常只有家人之间会发红包

and a larger amount of money is given.

而且红包金额也更大

For Cantonese, in addition to their families,

对于广东人来说除了给家人派利是以外

they may give lai see to their property managers, familiar waiters and waitresses at their regular Dim Sum restaurants, and sometimes to acquaintances they meet on the street during Chinese New Year.

他们还会派利是给小区的物业经理熟悉的酒楼服务生有时也会派给过年期间在路上遇到的熟人

Married couples give red envelopes to singles.

已婚者要给单身族派利是

Adults give it to minors.

长辈要给晚辈派利是

Lai see given by seniors are usually put underneath kids’pillow the night before the New Year, to protect them from“monsters”.

通常长辈们会在除夕夜把压岁钱放在孩子们的枕头下以驱除“年兽”保护他们

On the first working day after the new year, employers sometimes prepare开工利是(kick-off lai see) for their employees, to wish that everything goes well with their work in the new year.

在新年过后的第一个工作日雇主们有时候会给员工们准备开工利是希望新的一年各项工作都顺顺利利

There is etiquette connected to receiving red envelopes.

收红包也是有讲究的

You cannot open it or try to measure how much money was put inside in front of the giver.

不要在送红包的人面前拆红包或是估算里面的钱数

It’s very impolite.

这样做很不礼貌

And you'd better open all the red envelopes after the Chinese New Year period.

最好是在过完年后一起打开所有收到的红包

And there is another mysterious tradition to say that,

此外还有一个很神秘的传统

every Chinese mom will“help” their kids to keep all the lai see for their future tuition fees.

据说每一位中国妈妈都会“帮”他们的小孩存压岁钱以供日后交学费用

Let me keep these laisee for you.

这些利是钱就交给我

I will help you with your investments.

等我帮你投资

In the past,

以前

people tend to use brand new banknotes in lai see.

人们会在利是里包崭新的纸钱

But environmentally speaking, it's not necessary.

但是从环保的角度看不一定非要用新钱

In terms of those red envelopes,

说到这些红包

some talented people would use them as handcraft decorations or putting them on branches of plant, similar to the way Western people decorating Christmas trees.

一些有才的人们会把它们做成手工装饰品或是挂在绿植枝干上类似西方人装点圣诞树那样

As technology develops,

随着科技的发展

online red envelopes have grown in popularity.

线上红包越来越普及

With the impact of COVID, delivering good wishes when people cannot face to face see each other is a great way to keep the tradition alive, and keep people safe.

受新冠疫情的影响通过这种方式取代面对面相聚送出美好祝福既可以延续传统习俗又可以保证大家的健康安全

In online chat groups,

在线上聊天群里

people may set up rules to make giving and receiving lai see a game.

人们可以通过设置收发红包规则把它当成游戏

Whether in person or online,

无论是当面派还是线上给

the tradition will carry on as the will to send blessing and good luck, especially during these difficult times.

派利是这项作为人们送出祝福和好运的传统会不断传承下去如今疫情特殊时期更是如此

It’s not about how you give lai see or how much money is put inside,

派利是的方式和钱数并不重要

it’s all about love and care.

重要的是关爱和心意

Is there any melody means new year to you?

对你来说哪段旋律是新年的代表呢

For me, it's like

对我来说那就是

God of Wealth is arriving, God of Wealth is arriving, doing good things will result in good fortune.

财神到财神到，好心得好报

God of Wealth says, God of Wealth says, earn your money from legitimate sources.

财神话财神话揾钱依正路

God of Wealth is arriving, God of Wealth is arriving, best to walk faster.

财神到财神到好走快两步

If he appreciated you,

得到佢睇起你

you will have a good future.

你有前途

Hurry up and go get your lai see!

仲唔快啲去逗利是

恭喜发财，利是逗来！大湾区的小伙伴过年派红包有哪些有趣的讲究？ 03:46 Share

China Daily Podcast

Shownotes Transcript

恭喜发财，利是逗来！大湾区的小伙伴过年派红包有哪些有趣的讲究？