China's tech giants add new charm to "lucky money" tradition

Shaking her mobile phone, scanning the Chinese character "Fu" and watching short videos, Zhao Yacong started collecting "lucky money" at least 10 days before the Spring Festival -- not from her relatives, but from deep-pocketed tech titans.

"It's the seventh time I've participated in such games," said the 27-year-old account manager, adding that the fun she derives from such activities is about much more than collecting money.

In recent years, Chinese people like Zhao have embraced this new twist on the tradition of handing out red envelopes, or "hongbao" in Chinese, during the Chinese New Year holiday. It started in earnest in 2014, when Tencent made a splash with the digital hongbao service on its popular instant messaging app WeChat.

Since then, other companies have joined the throng, attracting a growing number of players keen to collect lucky money by playing hongbao games in various forms.

RACE FOR MOBILE USERS

As of Jan. 25, the amount of lucky money handed out by domestic tech firms this year has exceeded 8 billion yuan (about 1.25 billion U.S. dollars).

E-commerce giant JD.com has prepared 1.5 billion yuan of shopping vouchers and commodities since it became the exclusive red-envelope partner of the China Central Television Spring Festival Gala.

It is an opportunity for JD.com to make full use of the Spring Festival Gala, the most-watched show of the year, to gain new users and increase the brand's influence, said Su Xiaorui, a senior analyst at Analysys.

As competition at home heats up, China's tech enterprises are racing to bank on the time-honored tradition.

Alibaba has continued to offer 500 million yuan in lucky money to users who play its game of collecting "five blessings," while short-video platform Kuaishou has been prompting users to play little games in its application to win bonus money that amounts to 2.2 billion yuan.

"The strategy of money for traffic only works in the short term, and companies should offer user-friendly tech products to retain them," said Su.

FUN BEYOND MONEY

"One of the highlights of this year's red-envelope-grabbing activity is that many companies have chosen to integrate into traditional culture, the Winter Olympics and other factors," said Hu Qimu, chief researcher of Tianyi Digital Economy Institute.

Alibaba's "five blessings" offering this year features images of cultural relics related to tigers from 22 museums nationwide, telling stories spanning from the Shang Dynasty (1600-1046 B.C.) to the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), as a celebration of the Year of the Tiger.

Chinese internet giant Baidu has set up activities to embrace the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympic Games and prepared gold ornaments, digital collections and cash as rewards.

Hongbao campaigns can spur cultural consumption if participants appreciate the cultural relevance of the process, said Hu.

In recent years, more and more tech firms have integrated their red-envelope activities with traditional Chinese elements such as the legendary monster Nian, Spring Festival couplets and family dinners.

This year, due to the sporadic resurgence of COVID-19, Zhao has decided to stay in Beijing rather than return to her hometown around 700 km away in central China's Henan Province. However, she has invited her parents to join in the hongbao-snatching game with her.

"Each time I finish collecting lucky money online, I feel spring is at the door," she said.  ■