The people in the city of Shenyang, Liaoning province have taken a fancy to sending the Spring Festival red envelop through updated apps to family and friends this year, with the total number sent on New Year's Eve putting it in 5th place in China, according to the WeChat and Alipay, two of the major service providers.

The Chinese traditionally give a red envelope with money inside, or "hongbao", to friends and relatives during the Lunar New Year, so, naturally, Internet firms such as Alibaba, Tencent, Baidu and Sina Weibo decided to tap into it by launching apps that allow people to send or collect red envelops in this way via smartphone.

One partner in this effort has been the State broadcaster TV which distributed red envelopes to audiences during its 5-hour annual Spring Festival gala on New Year's Eve.

In explaining the cyber shift, one 29-year-old Shenyang Resident named Yu, explained, "It has a lot to do with luck, and that's what makes the smartphone red envelopes so much fun".

For other people, the cyber envelopes have made gift-giving at this time of year much less burdensome since the money can be provided efficiently – and in smaller amounts.