Chinese New Year Greetings and Red Envelopes in Taiwan

The short answer: in Taiwan you say 新年快樂 (xīnnián kuàilè) to almost anyone, and add 恭喜發財 (gōngxǐ fācái) when the mood is festive. 恭喜發財 means “congratulations, and may you get rich”. The holiday itself is called 過年 (guònián) in everyday Taiwan speech and 春節 (chūnjié) in formal use. The rest of this guide covers what to say to elders, to in-laws and to colleagues, how red envelopes (紅包) work, and what the days of the holiday actually look like in Taiwan.

新年快樂 is also said on 1 January. 跨年 (kuànián) refers to the 31 December countdown, which is a separate and smaller event than 過年, as the holidays guide explains.

The core greetings

Chinese	Pinyin	Meaning	Use it with
新年快樂	xīnnián kuàilè	Happy New Year	Everyone. The default.
恭喜發財	gōngxǐ fācái	Congratulations, may you prosper	Friends, colleagues, shopkeepers. Light and festive.
恭賀新禧	gōnghè xīnxǐ	Respectful New Year congratulations	Cards, messages to clients, banners
萬事如意	wànshì rúyì	May everything go as you wish	Almost anyone, spoken or written
心想事成	xīnxiǎng shìchéng	May what you set your heart on come true	Friends, younger people, colleagues
身體健康	shēntǐ jiànkāng	Good health	Elders
年年有餘	niánnián yǒu yú	Surplus every year	Anyone, often with fish dishes

A practical point about 新年快樂: Mainland speakers use the same phrase, so it carries no regional flavour. It is also what you can say in a text message to a landlord, a teacher or a client without any risk.

What 恭喜發財 means

Take it apart and it is plain Mandarin.

• 恭喜 (gōngxǐ) is a general word of congratulation. You can say it on its own for a birth, a promotion or a wedding.
• 發財 (fācái) is to make a fortune. The whole phrase is a congratulation on gaining wealth, now used mostly as a New Year greeting.

So the sentence is a congratulation and a wish at once. In everyday use it is closer to “have a prosperous year”.

The spelling “gong xi fa cai” is pinyin without tone marks. If you have seen “gung hei fat choy”, that is the same phrase in a Cantonese-based romanisation, common in overseas Chinese communities. In Taiwan you will hear the Mandarin pronunciation.

Playful reply: friends often answer 恭喜發財 with 紅包拿來 (hóngbāo ná lái, “hand over the red envelope”). That is a joke between peers. Do not say it to someone senior.

Greetings for elders

With grandparents, parents and older relatives, a short wish about health and peace works better than a joke.

• 新年快樂，祝您身體健康。 Xīnnián kuàilè, zhù nín shēntǐ jiànkāng. Happy New Year, wishing you good health.
• 祝您平安喜樂。 Zhù nín píng’ān xǐlè. Wishing you peace and joy.
• 祝您萬事如意。 Zhù nín wànshì rúyì. May everything go as you wish.

Notes on usage:

• 您 is the polite “you”. Use it for elders even when the family is relaxed. The article on 你 vs 您 covers when the polite form is expected.
• In many Taiwanese families grandparents are called 阿公 and 阿嬤, words that come from Taiwanese Hokkien. The Mandarin terms are 爺爺 and 奶奶 (paternal side) and 外公 and 外婆 (maternal side). Use whatever your partner or their family uses. The full set of terms is in the kinship vocabulary guide.
• Greet first. The younger person speaks first, then the elder gives the red envelope.

At New Year with in-laws

If you are visiting your partner’s family for the first time at New Year, keep it short and warm. The details of introductions are in Meeting Your Taiwanese Partner’s Parents. For New Year specifically:

• Say the greeting as you arrive: 爸、媽，新年快樂 if you are already married and your partner’s family uses those terms, or 伯父、伯母，新年快樂 (bófù, bómǔ) in a more formal setting. Many Taiwanese also say 叔叔、阿姨 for an older couple. Follow your partner’s cue.
• Add one wish: 祝你們身體健康 (zhù nǐmen shēntǐ jiànkāng), or 恭喜發財 if the mood is cheerful.
• Bring a gift. Fruit, a box of sweets or something from your own country is normal. Avoid sets of four, and avoid items with the sound of an unlucky word (see the next section).
• Accept food when it is offered, and say 謝謝 (xièxie) when you take an envelope with both hands.

Whether the in-laws expect you to address them in a particular way is a family matter. If you are unsure, ask your partner before the day, not during it.

Greetings for work and clients

In a Taiwanese company, the first day back after the holiday is when people greet each other. Colleagues say 新年快樂 or 恭喜發財 as they pass. To a boss or a client:

• 新年快樂，恭喜發財。
• 祝您新的一年工作順利，萬事如意。 Zhù nín xīn de yì nián gōngzuò shùnlì, wànshì rúyì.

For written messages, 恭賀新禧 or 敬祝 新春愉快 is standard. A typical customer message is 敬祝 新年快樂 followed by the sender’s name. The article on Job Titles in Taiwan covers how to address the person you are greeting.

Some employers give out 紅包 on the first working day. Practice varies by company.

Lucky and unlucky sounds

Chinese New Year wishes lean on homophones, the same mechanism covered in the lucky numbers article.

• 魚 (yú) sounds like 餘 (yú), surplus. Hence 年年有餘.
• 年糕 (niángāo) sounds like 年高, a year higher. 年糕 is a standard festive food for the lunar new year.
• 歲歲平安 (suìsuì píng’ān). If you break a dish or a glass during the holiday, people say this. 歲 sounds like 碎, “broken”.
• 4 (sì) sounds like 死 (sǐ, die), so it is avoided in amounts, gift counts and floor numbers.

Red envelopes (紅包)

A 紅包 is a red envelope with money inside. It is money given on happy occasions, wrapped in a red cover.

Who gives and who receives

• Married relatives and elders give to children and unmarried younger people. What counts as “unmarried” or “young” differs from family to family. Some families stop at the first job.
• Working adults commonly give their parents an envelope as thanks. The amount is a personal decision.
• An old term, 壓歲錢 (yāsuìqián), is the money elders give children on New Year’s Eve. Many people use 壓歲錢 and 紅包 for the same thing today.

Amounts

This is where the rules are firmest, and they are consistent with the rules in the lucky numbers article.

• Count the amount in hundreds. For a happy occasion such as Lunar New Year or a wedding, choose an even count: NT$1,200, 3,600 or 6,000. 好事成雙 means good things come in pairs.
• Avoid the digit 4 anywhere in the amount. NT$400, NT$1,400 and NT$4,000 are avoided.
• Amounts built around 6, 8 and 9 are thought of as auspicious. The right amount depends on the relationship and the family.
• An odd count marks a funeral. A funeral envelope is a 白包 (báibāo), and amounts such as NT$1,100 or 2,100 are conventional. Keep these out of New Year envelopes, and do not use a red envelope for a funeral.

Practice varies by family and by region. If you are not sure what to put in an envelope, ask a Taiwanese friend, or simply ask your partner.

Etiquette

• Crisp, unfolded notes are preferred over worn ones.
• Hand the envelope over with both hands, with a short wish.
• Receive with both hands, say thanks, and a wish such as 新年快樂 or 恭喜發財.
• Whether to open an envelope in front of the giver varies by family. Watch what the people around you do.
• A 紅包 is not a gift substitute for an elder when you are visiting. Bring something too.

Many people also send digital red envelopes in messaging apps.

The days of the holiday in Taiwan

The exact dates of the official holiday change every year, and the government announces them. The holidays guide covers planning around closures. The traditional sequence looks like this.

• 除夕 (chúxì), New Year’s Eve. Families gather for the 年夜飯 (niányèfàn) reunion dinner. It falls on the last evening of the lunar year. 圍爐 (wéilú), widely used in Taiwan, means the family gathering for this dinner, and 守歲 (shǒusuì) is staying up late on New Year’s Eve.
• 初一 (chūyī), the first day. Traditionally the day is spent at home or with the husband’s side of the family.
• 初二 (chū’èr), the second day. Traditionally the married daughter goes back to her parents’ home, 回娘家 (huí niángjiā). In many families that custom still applies, and in others it has shifted to a different day.
• Visiting relatives and friends, 拜年 (bàinián), takes up much of the first days.
• 初五 (chūwǔ). Many businesses reopen around this day. Government offices and companies follow the official calendar.
• 元宵節 (yuánxiāojié), the fifteenth day, closes the season with 湯圓 and lantern events. See Chinese Festival Greetings.

Before the holiday, families clean the house, buy 年貨 (niánhuò, goods for the new year) and post 春聯 (chūnlián), red couplets of auspicious phrases, on the door frame.

These are the common patterns. Taiwanese families differ, and Hakka, Hokkien and mixed families follow their own details, so when a Taiwanese person tells you what their family does, that is the answer for their family.

A short set to learn first

If you only have time for four phrases:

1. 新年快樂 (xīnnián kuàilè)
2. 恭喜發財 (gōngxǐ fācái)
3. 身體健康 (shēntǐ jiànkāng), for elders
4. 謝謝，也祝你新年快樂 (xièxie, yě zhù nǐ xīnnián kuàilè), thank you, and the same to you

The reply to any New Year greeting is the same greeting back: 新年快樂 or 也祝你新年快樂. For more on how short greetings stay in Taiwan, see saying hello in Chinese.

Related reading

• Chinese Homophones and Lucky Numbers in Taiwan
• Taiwan Public Holidays for Language Students
• Meeting Your Taiwanese Partner’s Parents
• Chinese Festival Greetings: Mid-Autumn, Dragon Boat