A monetarygift given in Chinese and other Asian societies, usually during holidays (especially Chinese New Year) or on special occasions, such as births or weddings.
The Chinese character 福 (fortune) is often found on the front of a hongbao. Other characters that may appear include 囍, 財, 賀 and 春. Occasionally some of these characters can be found upside down as a play on the word "to arrive" (pronounced the same as "upside down"). Characters are almost always written in Traditional Chinese for aesthetic reasons.
Despite the name, the "red envelope" can be found in other colors such as gold (second most common color) or pink. Whites and blacks are avoided as predominant colors though, as these are considered funeral colors.
Mandarin: 紅包 (Traditional) / 红包 (Simplified) (Hong-Bao) Min Nan/Hokkien: 紅包 (Ang-Pow or Ang-Pao) Cantonese: 利事 (Lai-See)
