Red envelopes inspired by B.C. man's love for family, culture launch for Lunar New Year

Red envelopes with a little bit of cash slipped insidehave been handed out at Lunar New Year celebrations for centuries. This year, a new dad in Vancouver, B.C., is putting a new spin on the cultural practice to make it more accessible for the next generation of Chinese Canadians.

Kevin K. Li is the man behind a new project called Mission: Red Pocket and has worked with local Asian artists to create three envelope designs inspired by past Lunar New Yearcelebrations with a modern twist.

Red envelopesknown as hngbo in Mandarinor laisee in Cantonese are given out at holidays and special occasions with money inside.

While they are traditionallyprinted with Chinese greetings on them,Li'salso have an explanation in English on the back.

"We believe in the importance of being able to understand our own culture and building bridges through art and stories to combat anti-Asian hate," reads the project's website.

The designs can be purchased online and a portion of the proceeds will be donated to Vancouver'sChinatown Storytelling Centre.

To talk about what inspired his project, Li sat down with The Early Edition's Stephen Quinn.

The following transcript has been edited for clarity and length.

I like a person with a mission. Tell me about yours.

Mydaughter was born last year and my wife and Imade a plan tospeak more Chinese ... and then we couldn't even get through the first hour before cracking out some some Englishbecause our Chinese is limited. If I couldn't even pass on a daily conversation to my daughter, how was I going to pass on tradition?

I was thinking about how to carry tradition forward in our own Chinese Canadian way and this idea of red pockets came about.

(The two compare samples of traditional red envelopes with Mission: Red Pocket's designs)

This isheavier cardboard and a much more modern graphic interpretation of the original. I also seecharacters here that say dai gut dai lei,Cantonese for big luck, big wins.

Look, you spoke Cantonese! How amazing is that?

The card also has the Mandarin version,Dj dl, because it's to really connect with the Cantonese and Mandarin dialects in Vancouver.Soeven though you may not understand it fully, you can at least carry a little bit forward.

How do you think an older Chinese person would react to receiving one of your red envelopes?

Red pockets are not just limited to Lunar New Year, they can be usedthroughout the yearand I actually tohave to call my dad and ask, 'Hey dad, what does this mean? Is this appropriate for a birthday? Is this appropriate for an anniversary?'

I think it's definitely for the next generation of Chinese Canadians parents like myself who want to give these.

When my own daughter was an infant, the folks who owned the place I regularly picked up produce gave me a red envelope as a wish for her and it was just the loveliest thing.

With Mission Red Pocket, your daughter would then understand whatthe well wishes are because you wouldn't throw away a Hallmark card somebody gave you for Christmas because they took the time to choose it. So the red envelopethe red pocket is the same thing.

We want people to appreciate the art and we want people to appreciate the greeting. This greeting is personally selected for you.