Advertisement
Banking & finance
BusinessBanking & Finance

Year of the Dragon: most popular of the Chinese zodiac signs dominates corporate lai see packets again

  • There is a 30 per cent increase in the use of the dragon’s image on lai see packets compared to its fellow zodiac creatures
  • ‘Everybody likes dragons, so the companies want to deliver dragon-designed lai see packets to their customers,’ says Hong Kong-based designer of lai see envelopes

Reading Time:3 minutes
Why you can trust SCMP
‘The Year of the Dragon holds special significance in markets like Hong Kong and Singapore,’ says Geraldine Walsh at Janus Henderson, a global fund management firm. Photo: SCMP Pictures
Enoch Yiu
The Year of the Dragon is under way, and the mythical, fire-breathing creature is everywhere to be seen. In fact, images of the legendary beast are more ubiquitous than any of its fellow zodiac animals are when their turn comes round on the Chinese calendar.
Advertisement
In particular, lai see envelopes – red paper packets filled with “lucky money” – are abundant with pictures of dragons, as financial companies from UBS to Julius Baer, and KGI Asia make the most of the creature’s popularity with the public.

“About 30 per cent more corporate customers demanded to use the zodiac animal to design their lai see packets this year than usual,” said Cyrus Cheung, co-founder of Eco-Art, a Hong Kong company that designs and manufactures over 15 million lai see packets for some 600 companies in Asia every year.

“This is because the dragon is the most popular zodiac animal of them all. Everybody likes dragons, so the companies want to deliver dragon-designed lai see packets to their customers.”

It is Chinese tradition for married couples to hand out lai see, or blessing money, to unmarried friends and family members, including children, during the first seven days of the new year, which this year started on February 10.

04:08

The ins and outs of giving lai see over Lunar New Year

The ins and outs of giving lai see over Lunar New Year

Companies often use more generic designs symbolising good fortune, such as flowers, fish, or birds for their lai see envelopes because any unused zodiac animal packet cannot be re-used for another 12 years.

Advertisement