Red packets traditionally contained a small sum of money given to children during the Chinese New Year. 红包传统上是在过年期间送给孩子们的一小笔钱。
But unlike in southern China, such as Guangdong Province and Hong Kong, where people mostly give several tens of yuan for children during the New Year holiday, red packets in most parts of China, including Shanghai, now see large sums of money exchanging hands. 但不像中国南部如广东和香港，那里的人们大多在春节给孩子们几十元，在中国的大部分地区，包括上海，现在能看到大笔的钱在手中流转。
" I'm always amazed to see how generous people are when giving red packets here. The amount is sometimes 50 times what we are used to giving," said Mark, a Hong Kong resident visiting relatives in Shanghai. " I wonder if they really earn that much each month." “我总是惊奇地看到这里的人们在给红包时是那么慷慨。有时是我们过去给的 50倍，”来上海探亲的香港居民马克说。“我想知道他们是否真的每个月赚那么多。”
A report by TNS, a market research firm, found people on the Chinese mainland on average allocate 3,668 yuan( US $588.8) as red packet money for the Chinese New Year. An average red packet for family members contains 1,323 yuan, and those for relatives average 893 yuan, according to the report. 市场研究公司 TNS公司的一份报告发现在中国大陆人们过年平均支出 3668元( 588.8美元)作为红包。为家庭成员准备的红包平均 1323元，给亲戚的平均 893元，根据该报告。
Daniel Tao, a Shanghai white collar worker, said his two-year-old daughter had received more than 10,000 yuan so far this year, mostly from relatives and friends. 丹尼尔陶，一个上海白领，说他两岁的女儿今年目前为止已经收到超过 1万元的红包吗，大部分来自亲戚和朋友。
" She really got a good harvest," Tao said, adding that grandpa, grandma, uncles and aunties had each given the toddler 1,000 yuan. “她真的有一个好收成，”陶说，爷爷、奶奶、叔叔、阿姨每个人给了孩子 1000元。
" But we also have to give out a lot in return," he said. " It's almost a meaningless exchange." “但我们也给了很多作为回报，”他说。“这几乎是一场毫无意义的交换。”
For those who are just starting to work and don't have any children, the problem is that they have little money to give away. Some web users complain that they have to spend all their annual bonus on red packets and taking relatives to nice restaurants. 对于那些刚开始工作还没有孩子的人，问题是他们没有钱去发红包。一些网民抱怨他们不得不花费他们所有的年度奖在红包和带亲戚去好餐厅上。
" It seems that 500 yuan is the minimum amount of money for children of relatives," an online post said. " The tradition of giving red packets will cost all my bonus in a week."“看来 500元是给亲戚孩子最少的钱，”一个网民发帖称。“给红包的传统在一星期将花掉我所有的奖金。
There have long been proposing to cut the size of red packets, but reality seems to be against it. 长期以来一直有人提议削减红包大小，但现实似乎与此作对。
An online poll conducted by Tencent found that 40 percent of web users would allocate three months ' salary for red packets, and 70 percent expected to spend more every year. 一个由腾讯发起的在线民意调查发现， 40%的网民会为红包花掉三个月的工资， 70%的人预计每年花费更多。
