春节临近，准备回家过年的人们也开始在心里盘算着今年的红包要怎么发。

Traditionally, Chinese people gives red envelopes filled with money, known as "Hongbao," to friends and relatives during the Lunar New Year celebrations. [Photo by Liu Junfeng/for China Daily]

During Chinese New Year, money is put inside red envelopes which are then handed out to younger generations by their parents, grandparents, relatives, and even close neighbors and friends.
春节期间，父母、祖父母，以及亲朋好友会把钱装在红色的信封里分发给下一代。

At some companies, workers may also receive a year-end cash bonus tucked inside a red envelope. Red envelopes are also popular gifts for birthdays and weddings. 
有些企业也会把年终奖放在红包里发给员工。另外，生日和婚礼也是红包经常出现的场合。

For technology companies, this has been an annual battlefield to entice users to stay glued to their respective services through financial incentives and promotional offers enclosed in virtual red envelopes.
对科技企业来说，通过虚拟红包中的资金激励和优惠政策吸引并留住用户，是一场年度大战。

支付宝集五福瓜分5亿

1月25日，支付宝集五福活动又开始了，据说今年的红包总额是5亿。

A user scans the Chinese character fu using the Alipay app to receive hongbao ahead of the Spring Festival. [Photo by CHEN JUN/FOR CHINA DAILY]

From Jan 25 to Feb 4, an augmented reality-powered game allows people to collect virtual red envelopes by scanning the Chinese character fu, which symbolizes fortune and luck in Chinese and is commonplace ahead of the Chinese New Year.

1月25日至2月4日，用户可以通过扫“福”字在支付宝增强现实游戏中集福。“福”在汉语中代表财富和好运，春节前随处可见。

It also ties into a series of events that promotes Alipay's array of services, from ecological protection scheme Ant Forest to Huabei, a consumer credit service.
集福活动还嵌入了支付宝旗下的其他服务，包括环保类的蚂蚁森林，以及消费信用类服务花呗。

Those who have gathered five fu representing different blessings stand to equally split the cash prize, plus extra offerings including paid trips to Europe for football matches and a full-year reimbursement of all loans incurred on Huabei.
集齐五福的用户将平分现金红包，另外还有欧洲足球观赛之旅、全年帮还花呗等额外奖励。

百度狂撒10亿

成为央视春晚独家互动合作伙伴的百度，春节前要发10亿红包，除夕当天还要发9亿红包。

Search engine Baidu Inc entered the fray this year by allocating up to 1 billion yuan of digital cash to be disbursed in the lead-up to the Year of the Pig.
搜索引擎公司百度在猪年春节到来之前，拿出10亿电子红包，加入今年的大战。

The free money is deposited directly in the recipients' accounts with the app operator. The recipient can use the digital cash for future purchases via the app or resend it as a gift to friends and relatives who are using the same app, thus maximizing the level of participation for existing users and drawing in new customers.
红包会直接存入用户的百度app账户，可用于该账户内的消费，也可当做红包发给其他使用百度app的亲朋好友。这样一来，既能将当前用户的参与度最大化，还能吸引新用户加入。 

银联云闪付：签到、转账都有红包

今年，云闪付率先开启了“扫标识领最高2019元红包”活动。Under a promotional campaign that ends on Feb 4, participants who download and use China UnionPay's QuickPass app to scan objects bearing the company logo are eligible for cash prizes of up to 2,019 yuan.

2019年2月4日前，用户使用云闪付APP扫描身边的“银联”或“云闪付”标识，即可获得最高2019元的现金红包。

The promotion will also include other cash gifts if people sign onto the app on a daily basis, recommend new users and transfer funds via the tool.
此外，云闪付还对每日签到、推荐新用户以及使用云闪付app转账的用户分发现金奖励。

这么多红包，你觉得自己能抢多少？

【相关词汇】

红包 red envelope

庙会 Temple Fair

春节联欢晚会 Spring Festival gala

放烟花 set off fireworks

放鞭炮 set off firecrackers

本命年 the animal year in which one was born

春运 Spring Festival travel rush

年夜饭 New Year's Eve dinner

全家团圆 family reunion