During the Chinese New Year red envelopes are given.  My friend says she is giving 1000 rmb to her nieces and nephews and 3,000 to her brothers son.  I am from the US and this seems insanely high.  Is it normal?

中国人过年期间会派红包。我朋友给外甥、外甥女各包了1000的红包，给弟弟的儿子包了3000的红包。我是美国人，我觉得红包太大包了。这在中国是正常的吗？

以下是Quora网友的评价：

Chew Hongjie

We must be dirt poor here in Singapore, or perhaps bloody mean.

I don't know the market rate for the indecently rich but for the vast majority of Singaporeans who observe the Chinese Lunar New Year, nieces and nephews get at the very least SGD$10.00 and at the very most SGD$100.00 to SGD$150.00.

Most would give on the much lower end of the spectrum.

Red packets are not cashed enrichments but tokens of blessings in the form of cash. This means the amount is irrelevant. A person can literally give a dollar. I mention market rate because being human, there is also peer or social pressure. Few people want to be perceived as a mean scrooge.

我们新加坡人肯定很穷，很小气。

我不知道富人包红包的行情，但对于绝大多数庆祝中国农历新年的新加坡人来说，侄女和侄子至少可以拿到10新元的红包，但最多也不会超过100或150新元。

大多数人给的红包都很小。

红包不能让你发财致富，只是用现金的形式送祝福，所以钱多钱少都无关紧要。就算红包里只有一块钱也没关系。我提到红包行情是因为作为社会中的人，我们都有同伴压力或社会压力。没有人愿意被当做小气的吝啬鬼。

Xao Cam

You give what you can afford, albeit, there is a little showmanship involved and some may give a little more than they can afford to save embarrassment. But, hey, if you have kids then they also recieve.

In the west it is more common to give a present during such events. This is a demonstration of how well you know the person and your thoughts of how the present will benefit them. But honestly, even in the west, giving money is becoming far more common.

你可以根据自己的经济能力发红包，有些人为了面子，可能会咬牙多包一点。但如果你有孩子，孩子们也会收到红包的。

在西方，赠送礼物的做法更为常见。赠送礼物可以反映出你对于对方有多了解，你知道这个礼物对方是否需要。但说实话，如今西方也越来越时兴包红包了。

H.F.FANG

It is normal…..

However, as a foreigner, if you are not very familiar with the Chinese people‘s social relationship rules, please keep yourselves as a foreigner…

You can put 100 RMB or more into the red envelopes, the quantity depends on you, that is just a present to the kids.

Btw, if your kids will also receive red envelopes on the same occasion, and the little guy happened to receive a huge red envelope. I think that is really a happy trouble for you…

这很正常.....

但作为一个外国人，如果你对中国人的社交规则不太熟悉，请认清自己外国人的身份…

你可以在红包里放个100元，或者多放一些，随你心意，这只是给孩子们的礼物。

顺便说一句，如果你的孩子也会同时收到红包，而小家伙收到了一个大红包。我想这对你而言，确实是一件痛并快乐的事……

Jopan Sheng

There is no ‘normal’ as how much in the red envelope. My eldest brother in the US gave $10,000 each to grandsons. He is not rich. I live in Taiwan and gave no red envelope to my daughter and son when they were kids. I gave NT$1,000 (about $30) to my three grandchildren. I am not poor.

红包该包多少，没有所谓的“标准”。我在美国的大哥会给每个孙子包1万美元。他并不算富裕。我住在台湾，我的女儿和儿子还小的时候，我没有给他们包过红包。我给了我的三个孙子1000元新台币(约30美元)的红包。但我不穷。

Lee Fei

in ethnic chinese culture, it’s a blessing to be able to share your wealth by giving. it’s also a reflection of the financial status of the giver.

在中华民族的文化中，有能力通过包红包来分享财富是很幸福的事。这也能反映出送礼者的经济状况。

Tim Brown

That is a bit high, but if they are insanely rich like many of the Chinese people I know are, it’s really no big deal.

包得是有点多了，但如果他们和我认识的很多中国人一样非常富裕，那真的也不算什么。

Khengchat Ng

No it is not. The parents of those kids could have done a big favour in the past for the giver. The best way to show appreciation is to get the new year occasion to give a huge amount in red packet money to the kids.

不，这个红包不算大。这些孩子的父母早前可能也帮了送礼者大忙。表达感激的最好方式就是在新年的时候给孩子们发大红包。

Freddie Chen

Depends on where she is living.

In big cities like Beiing or Shanghai, it is possible since that you have high salary to afford such large red packs/envelops.

The other thing you will notice is that if you have children, your children will also get such large red packs from other relatives. Moreover, all these money are reserved for children’s new school year’s expense.

So, after all, that is like a celebrating action of traditions to create a festive atmosphere.

Well, everything has exception.

Ta da, here is Guangdong province. The red packs here is also called “利是” （Laisee）.

The most normal amount of “利是” is 10–20 RMB while Guangdong is one of the richest province in China. XD

这取决于她在哪里了。

如果是在北京或上海这样的大城市，因为收入较高，所以她有能力包这么大的红包。

而且如果你有孩子，你的孩子也会从其他亲戚那里得到大红包。此外，这些钱都是留给孩子们当做新学年的花销的。

包红包就像传统的庆祝活动，能制造节日气氛。

但凡事都有例外。

啊哈，这里是广东省。这里的红包也被称为利是。

最常见的红包金额就是10到20元，但广东是中国最富有的省份之一。哈。

Jerry M

Depends on your income and how close you are to the kids and their parents.

For an average family in a 2nd 3rd tier cities, the number can be 200 rmb to 500 rmb. If the kids or their parents mean a lot to you, 1000 rmb is ok, and it is a pretty generous red pack. Normally, grandparents give bigger red pack to spoil their grand kids, with over 1000 rmb, 5000 or 10000 rmb are not rare either…

这取决于你的收入水平，以及你跟孩子和孩子父母的亲密程度。

对于二三线城市的普通家庭来说，红包可能在200元到500元之间。如果孩子或孩子父母对你来说很重要，可以包1000元，这已经是大红包了。通常，祖父母会给孙辈包更大的红包，1000多，5000，甚至10000元，都是有的…

For middle class from mega cities, like Shanghai, Beiing, I bet a 1000 rmb red envelop can be normal. 3000 rmb for brother’s son, she must be the elder sister who love the little brother and his son a lot. Again, it depends on your income and how close you are to the kids and their parents. My experience from a 2nd tier city, 30 years ago, a 10-rmb red pack used to be decent, 20 year ago, increased to 100 rmb, now, 500 rmb is what I put into the red pack to my cousin’s kids.

对于上海、北京等大城市的中产阶级来说，我觉得1000元的红包是很正常的。给弟弟的孩子包3000元，说明她肯定是一个很爱弟弟和弟弟儿子的姐姐。再说一次，这取决于你的收入以及你跟孩子和孩子父母的亲密程度。我在二线城市，就我个人经历而言，30年前一个10元的红包就挺不错的，20年前涨到100元，现在我都给表亲的孩子们包500元。

Holiday is a burden? Yeah, kind of. That’s why you hear every Chinese adult complaints “why the sense of happiness the Chinese New Year brings is dimming, the good memories about the Chinese New Year in everyone’s childhood are gone…”. Deep inside, we all know, the spirit of the holiday doesn’t really change much, what’s changed is just our age. So sad we are no longer the happiest little ones. Still, it is great to see the little ones enjoying it, which is the best moment in the new year, even though it can make you broke :(

过年亚历山大？是的，是有点。这就是为什么每个中国成年人都抱怨“为什么春节带来的幸福感越来越淡，大家对于春节美好的童年记忆都消失不见了……”其实我们心里都明白，节日的本质并没有改变多少，改变的只是我们的年龄。我们不再是无忧无虑的孩童了。虽然如此，尽管过年会让你“破产”，但看到孩子们开心过年就是新年里最美好的时刻。

Renee Haridas

As I understand from my Chinese friends in Malaysia, RMB1000 for nieces and nephews is very high since it works out to about RM660.00 but then, that could be the standard in China. In Malaysia, even the most favoured nephews and nieces below the age of 16 usually get about RM100-RM250 only (about US$20.00-US$50.00). I don’t think the Chinese in China give red packets to older people, however, though I could be wrong.

RMB1000 is equivalent to about US$140.00 and by US standards, and that isn’t really high by American standards. So whether it’s a large amount or not depends on where you live.

我听马来西亚的中国朋友说，给外甥外甥女包1000元人民币，是很大的金额了，大约这和660令吉，但那可能是中国的红包行情。在马来西亚，即便是最受宠爱的16岁以下的外甥外甥女，通常也只能拿到100-250令吉(约20-50美金)。我觉得中国人不会给老人发红包，但我说的可能并不对。

1000元人民币大约折合140美元，按照美国的标准这并不算高。所以这取决于你住在哪里。

Noel Leong

It is normal for your friend’s circle, the upper middle class in China. Such big amount is only given to close relatives and family members, and maybe close circle of friends. Some companies may give such amount as Chinese New Year bonus to the employee.

这对你朋友所处的圈子来说很正常，中国的中上层阶级。人们只会给近亲和家人包这么大的红包，也许还有很好的朋友。有些公司可能会给员工发放春节奖金。

Peter Kaye

Oh dear, tell me how do you say your friend is giving 1000 rmb , to her nieces and nephews, yet giving 3000 to her brothers son? I don’t understand what’s the difference??? What do you think her brothers son is to her if not another nephew? How do you figure that? But yes it is quite a lot, but that all depends on how wealthy she is, doesn’t it? It might just be petty cash to her.

哦，亲爱的，为啥你朋友给外甥外甥女包了1000元，却给弟弟的儿子包了3000元？我不明白区别在哪儿？对她来说，她弟弟的儿子和外甥意义不同吗？你怎么知道的？没错，这个红包金额确实很大，但这取决于她富不富裕了，对吧？这些钱对她来说可能只是零用钱。

Hiro-o Ekimae

Yes, pretty much normal. My father is half Chinese and has many relatives in China and that amount of money for hongbao is very normal. However you don’t have to give that much if you don’t want to, esp to little children.

Please note that you should NEVER give an odd-numbered amount of money because odd-numbered amount of money is traditionally associated with funerals. Only give an even-numbered money but avoid giving amounts of money that has 4 in it such as 40 rmb or 4000rmb because 4 sounds like death.

是的，很正常。我父亲有一半中国血统，在中国还有很多亲戚，这个红包金额是很正常的。但如果你不想给那么多也没事，尤其是包给小孩子。

有一点要注意，红包金额千万不要是个奇数，因为奇数金额通常与葬礼有关。给偶数金额就好了，但要避开4，比如40元或4000元，因为4和“死”发音相似。

小狐汔济

Do people have to send red envelopes during Chinese New Year's Eve? If so, why?

人们是否必须在除夕夜发红包？如果是，为什么？

Red envelopes can be sent Chinese New Year's Eve night, and red envelopes can be sent on these days of the New Year, because the time of the arrival of relatives and friends is uncertain, and we only send red envelopes to children. And sending red envelopes is not necessary, if you think you should send it, if you don't want to send it, you don't need to send it, it doesn't matter. In the past, children needed to kowtow to ask for red envelopes, but now there are not so many requirements, bow and say a few words of blessing to get red envelopes. Red envelopes, also called New Year money, are for children, ho that after children get red envelopes, they can spend the year safely, which is an auspicious way to bless.

人们可以在大年三十晚上发红包，也可以在新年期间发红包，因为亲戚朋友来拜年的时间并不确定，我们只给孩子发红包。发红包并不是强制行为，你觉得该发就发，你觉得不想发就不发，没关系。过去，孩子们得磕头讨红包，但现在没有那么多要求了，鞠个躬、说几句吉祥话，就能拿到红包。红包，也叫压岁钱，是专门给孩子准备的，希望孩子拿到红包后一整年都平安顺遂，这是一种象征吉祥的祝福。

Carl Johnson

During holidays or special events in China it is typical to give a gift of money. This gift of money is placed in a red envelope or 红包（Hong bao). Hong bao is given on holidays, weddings, baby births, birthdays etc.

在中国，逢年过节或有特殊事件时，人们通常会给对方送钱。这种钱会装在红包里。人们一般会在节假日、婚礼、婴儿出生、生日等时候发放红包。