Chinese New Year Do's & Dont's #1 Lunar New Year Lucky Red Envelopes
by Silicon Valley REALTOR® Michelle Carr-Crowe
Chinese New Year is Thursday, January 31, bringing in the Year of the Horse. In this series of Chinese New Year Do's & Don'ts #1 is Lunar New Year Lucky Red Envelopes. This series touches on the main auspicious and inauspicious gifts, etiquette and actions for the Asian New Year.
Asian New Year is an excellent time to visit past clients and wish them a prosperous year with a gift. For real estate agents inexperienced with the cultural symbolism of Asian beliefs, being invited to a client's or potential client's home for a Chinese New Year dinner, party or other celebration is a huge honor.
One big tradition in all Asian cultures is giving Lucky Red Envelopes (known as hongbao in Mandarin Chinese).
Most Asian grocery stores, stationery stores and gift shops in San Jose, Milpitas, and Cupertino, Calif. carry special Lucky Red Envelopes which are red with gold characters and images.
While Lucky Red Envelopes are known as hóngbāo in Mandarin, they are referred to as angbao in Taiwanese (and Singaporean Hokkien), lai see in Cantonese, otoshidama in Japanese, sae bae don in Korean, lì xì in Vietnamese, ang powin Cambodian and Filipino, and an-pao in Burmese.
DO: It is important that the Lucky Red Envelopes only contain new money, which can be requested from any bank. Banks in Silicon Valley, Calif. are familiar with this tradition. Agents needing a large amount of new dollar bills of any denomination should call in advance to ensure the bank can accommodate the request.
DO: Lucky Red Envelopes are traditionally given only to children or single people. It is considered unlucky to give them to anyone else, although it is okay to give them to parents or grandparents to pass on to the children or grandchildren not at the celebration. When attending a party, be sure to bring enough Lucky Red Envelopes for every child.
DON’T: Never fold the envelopes. Doing so “cuts the luck in half”.
DO: Always use two hands to give the Lucky Red Envelopes to the recipient while wishing them Gong hay fat choy (a prosperous new year).
Image courtesy of stock photos at www.freedigitalphotos.net.
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