Celebrating the first day of the Chinese New Year, President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) yesterday personally handed out 15,000 "lucky" red envelopes, each containing two crisp NT$100 bills, to thousands of people who came from around the country, lining up the whole night in front of Chen's old house in his hometown in Tainan County.
Thousands of neighbors and visitors yesterday descended on Hsichuan village (
PHOTO: CHANG CHUNG-I, TAIPEI TIMES
A line extended for over 6km, as people waited to receive the red envelopes from Chen's own hands.
PHOTO: CHANG CHUNG-I, TAIPEI TIMES
Many people drove down from northern Taiwan, hoping that the president's envelopes would bring them good fortune in the new year. A young mother even flew in from the offshore island of Kinmen with her children to line up for the red envelopes.
Chen Hsin-yu (
"I have been standing here since Tuesday noon waiting for the first red envelope," the young man said, "and I believe that it will bring me good luck for the whole Year of the Snake." Chen received the red envelope, which had printed on the front "Chen Shui-bian and Wu Shu-chen (
A man surnamed Tu, who lives in Taipei County, also joined the line on Tuesday afternoon with his family, and got five envelopes.
"We will keep these envelopes and the money as a memento," Tu said during an interview with a TV reporter.
Lunar Chinese New Year is the biggest holiday in the Chinese-speaking world.
Parents have to give their children red envelopes with money inside, which are to reward children for their good behavior over the past year.
Chen returned home by helicopter at around 9:25am and then stood for over three hours passing out envelopes to everyone who came.
All 15,000 red envelopes were distributed by around 1:00pm, causing some people to return home empty-handed.
In total, the president gave away NT$2 million.
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