Why do people in Guangdong envy people in Fujian?

Why do we give out New Year’s money? What does giving New Year’s money mean? Let’s take a look at what’s said about giving out New Year’s money. I heard that it’s only ten yuan in Guangdong. What’s the matter?

The origin of giving lucky money during the Chinese New Year

New Year’s money is also called “Yasui money” and “Shousui money”. It is one of the important gifts for the Chinese New Year.
There is a widely circulated legend about lucky money. It is said that in ancient times there was a little monster called "祟" who always liked to touch the heads of sleeping children on New Year's Eve. The children would always be scared and cry, and then their heads would start to feel hot and they would become stupid. So on this day, adults with children at home would not fall asleep, and every household would keep the lights on until dawn. This was called "guarding against 祟".
There was a couple who had a child in their old age. They loved their child very much. During the New Year, they took out eight copper coins for the child to play with. When the child was tired and ready to go to sleep, they would wrap the eight copper coins in red paper and put them under the child’s pillow. The couple dared not close their eyes. In the middle of the night, a cold wind suddenly blew open the door. The eight copper coins wrapped in red paper by the couple scared away the "evil spirit". Then everyone followed suit, and the child was safe.

The historical development of New Year's money

Although lucky money has existed for a long time, the earliest lucky money was not currency in circulation on the market. Instead, it was a lucky item or an evil-repelling item specially cast in the shape of coins and given to children as amulets. It turns out that the eight copper coins were actually transformed by the Eight Immortals to protect the children, and because "祟" and "岁" have the same pronunciation as "岁", it has the magical effect of suppressing evil spirits.
Since the Song Dynasty, people have used real-world circulating coins as New Year's money, and this practice became widely popular during the Ming and Qing dynasties. In the Ming and Qing dynasties, the elders would string copper coins together with red thread as New Year’s money, which was called stringing money. It can be given to the younger generations directly after the New Year’s Eve dinner, or placed at their feet or pillow after they go to sleep.
In modern times, it has become giving a hundred copper coins wrapped in red paper to the younger generation, which means longevity. Putting a silver dollar in the red paper package for the younger generation who have reached adulthood means huge profits. After currency was transformed into paper money, elders preferred to go to the bank to exchange serial-numbered banknotes and give new banknotes, which was to wish their children continuous promotion.
Today, red envelopes may become more convenient. There is no need to wrap the red envelope with red paper. You can directly give the red envelope using online payment. This way you don’t need to carry money that is easy to be stolen.

Guangdong children envy Fujian children for their New Year's money

In fact, there are different customs for giving New Year’s money in different places. It is said that the red envelopes in Guangdong are basically just a few dollars, and the most familiar ones are only 100 or 50 yuan, no more. These red envelopes are called "lai see" in Guangdong. In many big cities, such as Beijing and Shanghai, the price of red envelopes has naturally risen as well. A report appeared this year saying that according to a sample survey, the average amount of red envelopes received by children in Fujian was as high as 3,500 yuan, a high figure that is far beyond the reach of Beijing. I don’t know what’s going on. Some netizens complained, “No wonder Cantonese people eat Fujianese!”