Traditional festive gifts get more interesting

While red envelopes containing money are usually presented as gifts in China during holidays such as the Spring Festival or celebrations like wedding ceremonies, China's largest online travel agency Ctrip has seasoned this tradition with an exotic flavor this Lunar New Year by rolling out red packets containing foreign currency.

The red packet, which made its debut starting this month, comprises 50 notes in 26 foreign currencies, and every note is sealed in a plastic cover with information related to its country of origin. More information can be obtained by scanning the QR code on the cover.

The foreign currency red packet is priced at 128 yuan ($19) each. A total of 5,000 such packets have been made this year, said Hu Zhengmao, head of the foreign exchange business at Ctrip.

While the red packets were available in Ctrip's brick-and-mortar stores on the first day, all of them were sold out in eight hours. Consumers can now go to the travel agency's online platform to make the order and pick up the product at designated stores.

Apart from Ctrip, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China has also rolled out the foreign currency red packets this year, which is priced at 598 yuan per set. Most of the notes are less seen, coming from countries like Cambodia or Zimbabwe, said Fang Qing, vice-general manager of ICBC's Jing'an branch in central Shanghai.

A recent survey from technology giant Tencent said that presenting red packets has become a major consumption item for the younger generation this year. Around 27 percent of those surveyed said their budget for red packets this year was between 1,000 and 2,000 yuan, while another 17.2 percent said their budget would be between 2,000 and 3,000 yuan.

Another 14.51 percent said they would spend more than 5,000 yuan on red packets this year.

About 26.81 percent said that they will give red packets to their parents this year, while the rate is higher among people born in the 1980s, which comes at 32.28 percent. Those born after 1985 are the most highly stressed fiscally for this Spring Festival, as 99.31 percent of them said that they have to give red packets during the holiday, mostly to parents, children or friends getting married.

Therefore, the foreign currency red packets, which are seemingly generous and a real bargain indeed, will help to ease the burden largely, said Cai Jin, a real estate agent in Shanghai who has prepared 10 such packets.

But Hu of Ctrip stressed that only qualified companies and institutions are able to grant such foreign currency products. Ctrip obtained its foreign exchange license in 2015.

He suggested that consumers should confirm if the product provider has the qualification for foreign exchange. The note should be able to pass identification test for some of the fake ones are simply printed products.

As such red packets are available on some other e-commerce platforms, Tian Chongjing, lawyer from Jiangsu Sailfar Partners law firm, said that individuals who trade foreign currency without permission are likely to be charged with illegal operation based on China's regulations on the foreign exchange system.