Cracking the code of the "red envelop"

This Chinese spring festival, while family are gathering to watch the traditional Spring Festival Gala held annually by CCTV, the official media of People's Republic of China, some folks cannot take their eyes off their smart phone. They're trying to get their hands on the "red envelop".



What is this "red envelop"?

A "red envelop" is a traditional gift not only in Spring Festival, but can also be spotted in birthday party, wedding ceremony, graduation and some other special occasions. Of course, we're not giving away empty envelops. What do you think we are, monsters? The red envelop is always filled with the suitable amount of cash. 

Let's do some FAQ first.
1, How much money is considered suitable? 
It depends on the relationship between them. Generally speaking, the closer they are, the fatter this envelop would be.

2, It seems that they're simply exchanging similar amount of money, what's the point?
The thing is, two families normally do that via giving that red envelop to the young generation, normally, the "single child" of each others'. And yes, it is just another form of gift exchanging. It's a social courtesy. 

How is things different this year?

This year, Chinese IT giants Alibaba and Tencent, who are competing with each other in the field of e-payment, are giving away "red envelops" as well as encouraging people to give each other "red envelops" via their apps. 

It's rather simple. Take Alipay for an example. First, add payment method to Alipay, a debit card/credit card or prepaid e-filling card to load some balance. Second, generate a "red envelop code" which can be a random 8-digit-number or some customized Chinese/English characters. Third, set the amount of gift-money you're comfortable with and send the code to a group of people. People receiving the code can input the code into their Alipay app and withdraw their share to their Alipay account.

The best part is that, you can give away for example 200 dollars in total to a group of 5 to 10 friends. The amount they each get is randomized. One lucky guy could receive 100 dollars and some other folks only get 50 cents. Adding randomized distribution into this game brings more of a lottery-like fun. 

What's so brilliant about it is that the fusion of a traditional red envelop and the lucky draw encourages middle aged people who share a conservative view on e-payment to try it out. It is foreseeable that the number of active Alipay & Wechat Waller user would increase significantly. Plus, it brings the younger generation who's normally playing the passive receiving role into the game. It is observed that a considerable amount of red envelops is distributed by young users ranging from 20-30 years old. Good job, Alibaba & Tencent! What a way to promote their payment! Watch and learn Paypal, Apple pay or whatever pay you're!

Nerds go go go!

To bring more fun to the game, a small group of people hide their code with a puzzle. Only those who can solve the puzzle gets the money. Morse code, 2^317289+3^2922 mod 99999999, pixels in a picture, frequency hidden in a sound wave, you name it!

It's been a great 2014 for me. 
Happy Spring Festival to you all! 
Live long and prosper!