Enough already about family togetherness. Spring Festival is also - and very much - about the smart money and gifts that must go round and round in the famous red envelopes. Yao Minji peeks inside.

It's red envelope or hongbao season. Time to give serious consideration to who gets one, and what goes into that small but significant red envelop of money-go-round reciprocity:

How much is right? How much did he/she/they give me/us? How much can we expect in return in the form of cash, favors, good will, and who-knows-what-benefits to be claimed in the future?

For some significant people, perhaps not cash, that's too blatant, just an obviously expensive gift.

Ah, 'tis the season. Whoever said it was more blessed to give than to receive?

For some, like children and youth, this is a season of enrichment - they count on it for years. For others, well ... embarrassment and digging deep to come up with cash.

People without kids just seem to keep shelling out money to other folks' children. If you just got your first job, look out - Spring Festival will wipe you out.

"I'm quite broke now, but I still have to save a few hundred bucks for the Chinese New Year (starts next Monday this year) because I need to give red envelopes to my nephews, nieces and my grandparents," says 23-year-old Luo Qing, who just started working in August. She has already used up all her earnings.

It's an ancient rite of passage.

The amounts vary on family and ability to pay (see below on changing standards over the years). But you start getting money when you're born, start paying out when you enter adulthood, start receiving on behalf of your children, and receive again in your old age. That's the simple version.

Ancient tradition

"I still can't believe it. Instead of getting red envelopes, it's now my turn to give," says Luo. "I'm grown up so I can give out money. The red envelope money used to be my biggest income source for the year."

The red envelope money, or yasui qian (Lunar New Year money) in Chinese, is an ancient tradition dating back to the Han Dynasty (206 BC-220 AD).

It is given to the children and family elders on the Lunar New Year's Eve. Ya means to press or push away and qian means money. Sui conveys different meanings depending on the recipient.

When it is given to children, sui refers to evil deities or ghosts and the money is used to press or push them back to protect the children. It was once said that children could use this money to bribe the demons to stay away.

When it is given to elders, sui indicates age and the money is used to push back the years and aging, carrying the hope for longevity.

Both traditions are carried on although the definitions of children, adults and seniors differs among families.

In Luo's family, young people continue to receive red envelope money from parents and relatives until they start working. Once they are considered grown up and self-supporting, though they may still live at home, they are required to give to younger relatives or sometimes elders.

Some families follow the traditional definition of adulthood as marriage - after they wed, then they contribute to the familial money-go-round.

In the past, a man was not considered an adult until he married, when he could leave his parents' home and live separately with his wife. Many Chinese parents still see marriage an important measure of whether their child is grown up.