What children expect most during the Spring Festival is receiving red envelopes. Chinese New Year red envelopes, or red packets, known as Hong Bao or Ya Sui Qian in Mandarin, is the lucky money given from the elderly to the younger generation as New Year's gifts. The color red symbolizes happiness and good luck in Chinese culture.

Ya Sui Qian, "suppressing year money" or "money warding off evil spirits" literally, originates from the legend story of Monster Sui. On New Year's Eve, besides Monster Nian, there was a demon named Sui who came out to terrify children by patting their head when they were asleep. The children touched by it would be crying out loud, get a terrible fever or even become mentally unstable because of extreme fear. To keep children safe from being harmed by Sui, parents wrapped copper coins in red paper bag and put them under children's pillow. When Sui approached in the midnight, the coins emitted strong light that scared Sui away. The character Sui also has a homophone of "age" in Chinese, so nowadays it has become a tradition to give youngsters money in red envelopes with the blessing that they would grow up happily and healthily.

Besides children and unmarried juniors, New Year's red envelopes can also be given to the elderly by adults with income to show their respect and best wishes. What's more, 2014 Chinese New Year marked the innovation of digital red envelopes on WeChat. At present, giving, receiving, and snatching red envelopes via WeChat has become a new popularity.