Red envelope

Red envelope
Assorted examples of contemporary red envelopes
Chinese name
Traditional Chinese	紅包
Simplified Chinese	红包
Literal meaning	"red packet"
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin hóngbāo IPA [xʊ̌ŋ.páʊ] Hakka Romanization fung bao Yue: Cantonese Yale Romanization hùhngbāau Jyutping hung4 baau1 Southern Min Hokkien POJ âng-pau
Alternative Chinese name
Chinese	利是 or 利事
Literal meaning	"good for business"
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin lìshì IPA [lî.ʂî] Hakka Romanization li si Yue: Cantonese Yale Romanization làihsih Jyutping lai6 si6 Southern Min Hokkien POJ lī-chhī
Burmese name
Burmese	အန်ပေါင်း an paung
Vietnamese name
Vietnamese alphabet	bao lì xì (lợi thị) phong bì mừng tuổi
Hán-Nôm	包利市 封皮𢜠歲
Thai name
Thai	อั่งเปา
RTGS	ang pow
Japanese name
Kanji	お年玉袋 祝儀袋
Transcriptions Revised Hepburn otoshidama-bukuro shūgi-bukuro
Malay name
Malay	angpau
Filipino name
Tagalog	ᜀᜅ᜔ᜉᜏ᜔ / ᜀᜋ᜔ᜉᜏ᜔ angpao / ampaw
Khmer name
Khmer	អាំងប៉ាវ ăngpav

A red envelope, red packet, hongbao or ang pau (traditional Chinese: 紅包; simplified Chinese: 红包; pinyin: hóngbāo; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: âng-pau) is a gift of money given during holidays or for special occasions such as weddings, graduations, and birthdays.^[1] It originated in China before spreading across parts of Southeast Asia and other countries with sizable ethnic Chinese populations.

In the mid-2010s, a digital equivalent to the practice emerged within messaging apps with mobile wallet systems localized for the Chinese New Year, particularity WeChat.