The Chinese tradition of giving gifts of money in red envelopes at Lunar New Year has turned into big business for Web giants Alibaba and Tencent, which now both offer electronic "hong bao".
新年送禮給紅包是中國春節(jié)的傳統(tǒng)習俗，而今年“紅包”已經演變成互聯(lián)網巨頭阿里巴巴和騰訊的網絡紅包大戰(zhàn)。

At the end of each lunar year, it is customary in China to give children hong bao -- small sums of money in envelopes that are red, the colour of prosperity. But now the age-old practice is going high-tech.
每年農歷年年尾，中國人要給晚輩發(fā)紅包——紅紙包里裝的錢不多，表達最孩子們的祝福。不過老習俗到了今天也走向了高科技。

It is now possible to exchange "red envelopes" via smartphone, which is proving a popular trend in China and has sparked a battle for the lucrative market between the two companies providing the service, Tencent and Alibaba.
現(xiàn)在只要通過智能手機就能交換紅包， 這么方便的功能讓整個中國都陷入了搶紅包發(fā)紅包的熱潮，這場紅包大戰(zhàn)可以看成是兩家中國互聯(lián)網巨頭騰訊和阿里巴巴之間的一場用戶爭奪戰(zhàn)。

"You don't have to pay the same fees or wait as long as you would for a traditional bank transfer. It's more convenient, simple and fun," Wang Le, a 28-year-old Beijing resident, told AFP.
8歲的北京人王樂說：“發(fā)電子紅包不需要傳統(tǒng)紅包那樣支付手續(xù)費和排隊，它更便捷、簡單和有趣。”

"I loved getting red envelopes when I was little, but it was only my older relatives who would give them, and only around the new year," he said.
王樂說：“小時候我喜歡收紅包，但只能從長輩親戚那里拿，也只有在新年左右才能拿到?！?/div>

"With electronic red envelopes, you're not limited by your identity or the time of year. It's a new, fresh way of playing the game."
“有了電子紅包，你的輩分、是否過年節(jié)都不要緊了。這是一種新玩法?！?/span>

The idea was introduced in 2014 by WeChat, a mobile messaging system with over 400 million users and operated by Tencent, China's largest Internet service portal. It was immediately successful.
發(fā)紅包的概念是2014年微信引入的，擁有4億多注冊用戶的微信是中國最大的門戶網站之一騰訊網旗下的品牌。紅包概念一經推出立刻獲得成功。

Within ten days, some eight million users had exchanged 40 million virtual envelopes. The minimum amount that can be exchanged is modest -- one yuan, or 16 cents of the US dollar -- and there's also the fun option of splitting a sum between several recipients.
短短十天內，約有800萬用戶收發(fā)了4000萬個虛擬紅包。最低限額為1元，用戶也可以將紅包拆成多個發(fā)放給多人。

This year, Alipay Wallet, the payment system run by online retail giant Alibaba, is ready to take on the competition. It is allowing its 190 million users to send digital gifts, notably via the Twitter-like Sina Weibo, of which Alibaba is a shareholder.
今年阿里支付寶決定加入紅包大戰(zhàn)。用戶也可以通過微博(阿里持有股權)收發(fā)紅包。支付寶移動端1.9億活躍用戶加入搶紅包發(fā)紅包的陣營。

For the past few weeks a digital battle has been raging, with Tencent banning Alipay from sending red envelopes via WeChat, saying they posed a "security" threat. Recently, WeChat also blocked Alibaba's music app Xiami.
僅僅是幾周時間，紅包大戰(zhàn)就火上澆油，支付寶紅包遭微信封殺，騰訊給出的理由是有安全隱患。最近微信又封殺了阿里巴巴旗下音樂App蝦米。

To compete for the public's favour, the two rivals have launched lotteries through which they award red envelopes to users in an online game.
為了拉攏用戶，兩家公司開始了在線搶紅包游戲。

Tencent agreed to give out 800 million yuan (about $127 million) in envelopes on its WeChat and QQ messaging apps over a ten-day period, with each one worth as little as several cents or as much as $800.
騰訊同意在十天內通過微信和QQ客戶端發(fā)放8億元紅包，最低的有幾分錢，最高的能有4999元（800美元）。

For its part, Alipay has promised to give out $95 million in envelopes as well as coupons and discounts totalling several billion yuan as part of its publicity quest.
作為回應，阿里承諾放出5億元（9500萬美元）現(xiàn)金紅包，加上各類優(yōu)惠券和打折，總價值將超過數(shù)十億億元人民幣。

Tencent and Alibaba are not just playing Santa Claus, however -- the publicity surrounding the lotteries has garnered the web giants many more new users.
騰訊和阿里此番發(fā)錢不是學圣誕老人做慈善——這場紅包大戰(zhàn)帶來的宣傳效果給兩方都帶來了許多新注冊用戶。

It's easy to send and receive hong bao or participate in the lotteries: you simply need to register your bank details.
收發(fā)紅包，或者參與搶紅包只需要確認銀行卡信息就可以，非常簡單。

According to market research group iResearch, Alipay controls 82.6 percent of the Chinese mobile phone payment market, compared to 10 percent for Tencent's Tenpay.
iResearch給出的數(shù)據(jù)顯示，支付寶坐擁中國移動支付市場82.6%的市場份額，而騰訊的財付通只占了區(qū)區(qū)10%。

However, Tenpay only controlled four percent of the market before the red envelope campaign debuted on WeChat in 2014.
不過，在2014年微信發(fā)布搶紅包活動前，財付通的市場份額更為可憐，只有4%。

Alibaba founder Jack Ma has dubbed WeChat's red envelope campaign a "Pearl Harbour-like attack" on Alipay.
阿里巴巴創(chuàng)始人馬云吐槽微信紅包有如珍珠港偷襲。