This photo taken on February 17, 2015 shows red "hongbao" packets for sale in a pedestrian underpass in Beijing. In China, the tradition of giving "hongbao", or red envelopes, to celebrate the Lunar New Year is enjoying a resurgence in popularity online - a golden opportunity for Internet giants Tencent and Alibaba as they battle for the lucrative online payment market. AFP PHOTO
BEIJING, Feb 18, 2015 (AFP) - The Chinese tradition of giving gifts of money in red envelopes at Lunar New Year has turned into big business for Web giants Alibaba and Tencent, which now both offer electronic “hong bao”.
At the end of each lunar year, it is customary in China to give children hong bao -- small sums of money in envelopes that are red, the colour of prosperity. But now the age-old practice is going high-tech.
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