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This article in the South China Morning Post twice mentions "laisee" without explanation:

China delivery firm offers kneeling service to send Lunar New Year greetings for customers
Paid for holiday festival package includes door cleaning, couplet hanging; critics say offer cheapens sanctity of filial piety, is disrespectful
Zoey Zhang, SCMP (2/12/26)

I remember when I lived in Taiwan (1970-72) participating in the New Year ritual of distributing gifts to respected elders and receiving "red envelopes":

A red envelope, red packet, lai see (Chinese: 利是; Cantonese Yale: laih sih), hongbao or ang pau (traditional Chinese: 紅包; simplified Chinese: 红包; pinyin: hóngbāo; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: âng-pau) is a gift of money given during holidays or for special occasions such as weddings, graduations, and birthdays.  It originated in China before spreading across parts of Southeast Asia and other countries with sizable ethnic Chinese populations.

In the mid-2010s, a digital equivalent to the practice emerged within messaging apps with mobile wallet systems localized for the Chinese New Year, particularly WeChat.

(Wikipedia)

It was an exhausting business, having to run all over the Taipei metropolitan area, calling on relatives and colleagues, delivering gifts and receiving red envelopes.

A Chinese delivery company is offering a “paid-for kowtowing service” in which customers pay US$145 for someone to kneel before their parents if they cannot return home for the Lunar New Year.

A delivery company in central China has sparked controversy by introducing a range of services including kneeling and kowtowing to replace in-person family visits during the Spring Festival.

The SCMP article twice mentions laisee, without explanation.  As noted above, it is written in sinographs as lai6 si6 利是 (lit., "benefit this").  But it is also commonly rendered as lai6 si6 / lei6 si6 / lei6 si5 利市, which can have the following meanings:

1. profits
2. (literary) good business; good market
3. (dialectal) omen of good business
4. (Cantonese, Hakka, Nanning Pinghua, Guangxi Mandarin, Teochew) red envelope; red packet; lai see (a monetary gift which is given during holidays or special occasions) (Classifier: 封)

   封一百蚊利市畀佢啦。

   fung¹ jat¹ baak³ man¹ lai⁶ si⁶ bei² keoi⁵ laa¹. [Jyutping]

   Give him a $100 red envelope.

    (Wiktionary)

No matter what you call them — red envelope, red packet, laisee, hongbao, ang pau, etc. — they are all part of the social praxis of "filIal piety" (xiào 孝).

Selected readings

• "'Learning Makes My Mother Happy'" (8/19/25)
• "Political drumbeat: cultural confidence" (2/19/24)

[Thanks to Mark Metcalf]

February 12, 2026 @ 12:29 pm · Filed by Victor Mair under Language and culture, Topolects

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