The latest Chinese New Year custom
When I was a student in Beijing, there would always be a lesson in our textbooks about the Chinese New Year. We learned that during that festivity there were some customs Chinese people always followed: cleaning the house on the last day of the year, making dumplings, having dinner with the whole family, watching the New Year Gala on tv, throwing firecrackers, giving red envelopes (红包 hongbao) with money to the children… It sounded similar to Christmas or New Year’s Eve in Spain.
I’ve actually never made dumplings with my mother in law. Maybe this year?
When I started working in China, I found out there was another side to Chinese New Year: companies and workplaces in general would arrange a party for all the employees, complete with dinner, drinks, performances, awards and lucky draws. I blogged about one of these parties here three years ago.
Company new year party in 2015.
Now there is a new custom that has been added to both family and company events… the WeChat red envelopes! WeChat is a Chinese app similar to Whatsapp and also with a feed like Facebook, but with many more functionalities. One of the most useful is that you can link your bank card and pay in shops or transfer money to friends. And, being made by Chinese developers, of course you can also send red envelopes! You can choose how much money to send, how many people can open it until it is finished, and if you want the amount received by each person to be the same for all or random. This has been adopted into a “game” that is played in WeChat groups: someone sends a red envelope with limited random amounts, and the lucky one who gets the most money has to send a red envelope next time. Normally there are more people in the group than available envelopes, so to get something you need to be fast and tap the icon as quick as possible.
Fascinating, right? Most exciting game ever! (Irony mode off).
Red envelopes sent in a group. You have to tap the orange box to get them.
So now, in new year parties, when the dinner is about to end, people are not chatting to each other or looking for more drinks. They are glued to their phones, waiting for the boss to send an envelope with a lot of money. In these cases, whoever wins the most money doesn’t have to send another red envelope, of course. But some people do it as a way to wish a happy new year. If you are not using wifi, the red envelope sending business can totally drain your data, as people get excited and start sending thousands of gifs. Once I left our WeChat company group because I couldn’t stand the madness anymore!
One of the most popular gifs after a red envelope is sent: kowtowing and saying “Thank you boss”.
I hate that kowtowing gif when it is directed to the real boss. To me it feels demeaning and I imagine the boss dressing like an ancient king, standing on an elevated place and throwing gold coins to the mud so the villagers fight for them. I know, I think too much! The rest of the people just care about opening those envelopes and getting the money! Personally, I would prefer if the boss just gave each person a small quantity of new year money instead of making it a competition. But I’m just a weird foreigner! Chinese people love competing with each other and playing the red envelopes game!
The WeChat red packet giving game does sound awfully competitive…In a way it’s like gambling. If you are lucky, you will get a good return. I’d much rather have money handed right up to me, and I just take it away like that. Easy :D
It probably feels like gambling, yes. I wonder why Chinese people love gambling so much! Maybe because it’s forbidden?
Hahaha! There are many ways to gamble and not all kinds of gamblings are illegal – and also depends on the country and region XD
Oh, I meant currently in mainland China. But I guess people loved gambling before it was forbidden!
What an interesting custom! It’s crazy how Wechat is taking over China… and the world. Here in Hong Kong a lot of businesses use it now to connect with clients in the mainland. Heck, my best friend is addicted to the games on it!
I’ve never wrapped dumplings with my family before as well. I’d love to try one day!
Charmaine Ng | Architecture & Lifestyle Blog
http://charmainenyw.com
3 or 4 years ago in Hong Kong I saw a WeChat promotion event in the street, if you downloaded the app they would give you a soft drink. I told them I already had it and they gave me the drink anyway, haha. I use WeChat mainly for chatting and for paying in shops, I don’t really play their games.
Fascinating — as always — thanks, Marta!
Thank you for reading!
It’s like gambling. I hate gambling and my husband loves it. I would loathe that red envelope game and he would be all over it.
And that kowtowing just looks humiliating.
I also hate gambling! But it’s like an obsession here, and as it is forbidden they have to look for substitutes. I like to play cards or mahjong just for the sake of playing, but Chinese people have often told me that for them, if there’s no betting involved, the game is not fun. WTF…
OMG. There’s always something new, right? I can see that being totally addicting and crazy.
I am dreading the day of the company new year gala. If I don’t check the phone, I’m sure there will be like 10,000 new messages in the morning xD
That kowtowing app is awful, not only the thought of kowtowing to your boss, but the constant annoying movement of it.
I’ve never made dumplings with my mother-in-law, but I made some with a friend. She did most of the work, and of course her dumplings were more beautiful than mine.
There’s another one that kowtows even faster! Argh! I hate it! And after the boss sends a red envelope, there’s a storm of those gifs, one after another.
I’ve made dumplings some times, with a teacher in Spain, in a youth hostel activity, and in a school activity in Beijing. Well, not really made, just “assembled” them. I was never able to close them properly and the insides would spill during cooking, hahaha.
When I worked on a cruise ship in Shanghai we tossed red envelopes into crowds that contained discounts for stores aboard the ship. It was madness and I couldn’t believe no one died in the stampedes, but it was the highest rated events in guest satisfaction so we had to keep doing it.
Do you remember the stampede in New Year’s Eve a few years ago in the Bund? Some rumour said it started because someone started throwing discount coupons or something that looked like dollar bills from a window…
Yeah I remember reading about that, I look a keen interest when I saw nothing planned this last New Years. I’ve read in different places that it was real and some saying it was fake. I also read people died in a stairwell falling down it coz no one would let anyone else pass going in each direction. I guess whatever happened you gotta anticipate for mob behaviour here.
Oh the WeChat redpockets…the madness shall begin soon again. As last year I expect my wife being busy during new year checking out her phone as there will be non-stop red pockets arriving / being sent to her friends and customers -.-
The thing is, usually the amounts you can get are so small that I don’t know if they are worth the time you spend, hahaha
Enjoyable post Marta…had dumplings last night – so delicious.
I also had dumpling cravings the other day! Had to get some in the supermarket, some lady makes them there by hand. I should ask her to teach me xD
This does sound like an annoying custom. The kowtow icon is kind of funny but annoying too, especially as (and as you insinuate) to many Chinese it’s not even ironic.
I really hope they don’t use it in a too literal way xD