As Chinese New Year nears, people are seeing red
The San Diego County Credit Union is offering customers special red envelopes that can be picked up at its branches or requested digitally in a variety of styles.
Similar red envelopes also are available currently at other banks and financial institutions, as well as at some grocery stores, markets and restaurants.
The reason? They play an integral role in the celebration of the 2022 Lunar New Year, also known as Chinese New Year.
When Natasha Wong bought a scarf for a gift at the Hermès store in Westfield UTC the other day, the clerk handed her several red envelopes.
At the Chinese School of San Diego in Kearny Mesa, young students traditionally are taught to make their own envelopes out of red construction paper at this time of year.
“It’s the biggest deal during Chinese New Year,” explains Principal Sally Wong-Avery. “It’s our version of Christmas . ... Red means lucky. The envelopes are usually stuffed with money.”
They are handed to children and teens by parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles and other family members and friends on the Lunar New Year, which falls on Feb. 1 this year.
Traditionally, a child kneels when he or she gets an envelope and gives a response in Chinese which, roughly translated, means “wishing you more money,” says Wong-Avery. It is impolite to open the envelope in the presence of its giver and is considered unlucky to include dollar amounts ending in odd numbers, with the exception of 9.
Red is viewed in the Chinese culture as a symbol of good luck, and the money, usually crisp bills of varying denominations, $10, $20, $50 or $100, are given as a wish for good health and successful studies.
For five decades, WongAvery has collected these envelopes, which have various designs and often are embossed in gold, symbolic of prosperity.
Disneyland is even offering the envelopes with illustrations of popular Disney characters — Mickey
Mouse, Minnie Mouse, Donald Duck and Chip & Dale. The park also sells red T-shirts, plush toys and Mickey Mouse “ears” with the Chinese New Year theme.
There are Bob the Builder red envelopes and Snoopy red envelopes.
“When I was young, we all looked forward to Chinese New Year because we wanted to count our money,” Wong-Avery fondly recalls.
So prevalent is the tradition in the United States that the red envelopes, in various styles, are sold or given to customers, not just in Chinese markets and grocery stores, but in many other businesses as well.
Free red envelopes also are available at the House of China in Balboa Park’s House of Pacific Relations, says Natasha Wong, who heads the House of China group. She is uncertain about the fate of the 2022 Chinese New Year celebration annually held on the park lawn by the international cottages.
It took place in late January 2020, but last year the festival was canceled due to the pandemic.
As of this week, lion dancers, acrobats, musical performers and other festivities are slated to take place there Feb. 19 and 20. But a final decision is expected next week on whether the free public event will go forward or, once again, be quashed by COVID-19 precautions. “We’re still in communication with the city and may have to cancel,” Wong says.
The House of China and Chinese School of San Diego generally collaborate on a Chinese New Year banquet that traditionally attracts 400 to 500 attendees. It, too, has been scrapped.
So has a Chinese street fair held in downtown San Diego.
“We had a board meeting last week and decided to cancel the Chinese New Year fair that we had been planning for the whole year,” said Peter Chu, president of the Chinese Consolidated Benevolent Association, at 438 Third Ave. The organization is returning merchants’ deposits.
“It would be very irresponsible for us to continue with the fair,” he says, even though it was outdoors and many of the food and handicraft vendors still wanted to proceed. It was an impactful decision because donations and proceeds from the street fair help fund association’s annual budget. In 2021, the fair took place as a virtual event.
The San Diego Chinese Historical Museum, at 404 Third Ave., remains closed to the public due to the pandemic. The museum was founded in 1976 by Wong-Avery and Dorothy Hom.
Despite canceled festivities, most Asian families will have a special family feast on Jan. 31, the night before the Chinese New Year, similar to Dec. 31, New Year’s Eve. The Lunar New Year lasts for 15 days and is observed with family gatherings.
Chu recalls he and his two younger siblings being dressed, usually in red, as children in Hong Kong, and being taken to visit the homes of their relatives and their parents’ friends.
“Everyone was waiting for you to come. We would have tea and eat and then go to the next house and collect more red envelopes,” he says.
He adds that there is another use for the red envelopes — feeding the lion dancers.
“Today, more and more people know that is what you’re supposed to feed the lion.”
Each year of the 12-year lunar cycle is represented by a Chinese Zodiac animal. This year is the “Year of the Tiger,” which stands for courage and confidence.
Natasha Wong, her husband and their young son all were born in the Year of the Tiger.
“This will be a difficult year because COVID is not going away,” Wong-Avery says. “In the Zodiac, the tiger is very protective. It is a very strong animal. We are hoping it will bring people more strength.”