The weddings I've been to have all been at friends of my wife. I think we've given 500RMB as a couple. It must be an uneven amount (in China, 500 is an uneven amount, or the rule applies to number of notes, who knows), get the cash from an ATM as new crispy unwrinkled notes are nicer. 

Remember if you actually want the couple marrying (or they parents more likely) to have anything, you need to look at what kind of venue it is held at and make sure you are at least paying your own meal. 

My wife has given 100 to 200 at her colleagues or not-so-close friends weddings. At my good friends wedding recently we gave 500.

I would say if it's a very good friend - 500. If it's someone you just chat to now and again - 200.

At my own wedding, my close friends gave 500, her close friends gave 500, everyone else was 1-200.

I went to a the wedding of a Chinese friend's cousin recently and had to give a Hongbao. I asked him how much to give and he said that because I didn't know her that it was more of a gesture and I could just give 100 RMB. He, being a cousing of the girl getting married, gave 1 000 RMB. So I think it all depends on how well you know the person. I think for your colleague, 100 or 200 is fine. But for good friends between 300 and 500 is probably better. I do think though, that they understand if you have very little money, so giving as much as you can is appreciated.

I am Chinese ,let me tell you.

very good friend,1000rmb

normally colleague,not very sure now, i remeber 5years ago was  200rmb.

maybe 400？i don't know,but I think not very good,4is not lucky number

I give even amounts because I don't feel like being a party to superstition. I also only give a little bit. Like 100.

I'd advise against giving too little.  You should, at least, cover the expense of your lunch.  My wedding was about Y2500 per table, so Y250 per guest.  We received anywhere between Y200-1000 from our guests. 

I heard that, during Chinese weddings, how much one gives is how much one receives and vice versa. The funny thing is that, they keep record of the list and amount of donation everyone makes and I've witnessed this one before   

give a quantity that matches lucky numbers, such as 888. Use even numbers, and ending with 6's or 8's are lucky.

I would give your colleague 200-250 RMB and your friend anything from 500-1000 RMB. 666 or 888 RMB are always good amounts to choose.

For your colleague's wedding, 200 rmb is ok.  333 rmb if you want to give a "lucky number" amount.  I've been to a few colleagues' weddings.  Our company has an unspoken rule of 200 rmb max contribution at colleagues' weddings.

For your good friend's wedding, either 666 or 888 rmb should hit the spot nicely.

200-500 is ok. We went to my wfies old schoolmate from her hometown's wedding, they aren't close but chat on QQ from time to time, we gave 400 I think.

Usually they won't know which envelope is from who as often a person at the table will just collect all the envelopes and pass them on to the couple or their parents. If you're giving a little less just make sure you have a bog-standard hong bao envelope and you'll be fine.

I have now been to 6 weddings in my 3 years here - 3 mixed ceremonies with friends marrying Chinese girls and the other 3 were Chinese friends.

For my best mate's wedding I gave 1200RMB. For the other foreign friends I gave 300. The Chinese weddings were my assistant Chinese teachers and I gave them 300 and 500 the latter being a good friend and she was vice principal of the school.

It's a tough situation really. The comment about it all being about money is not really fair because for weddings in our country you have to give a gift and these days you become part of those gift lists from selected department stores. That also has a slightly mercenary ring to it in my mind but certainly avoids the couple ending up with 3 irons and 4 frypans. If you work out how much the gift would cost you back home I think you will be lucky to get away with anything under $80 - $100 and that converts to 500 - 600 RMB. We also adopt the mindset at home that if you don't know the couple all that well you would tend to not want to spend a lot on a gift. Same applies here in China with the Hongbao amount I guess.

Ultimately it's what you can afford and how well you know the people getting married. By the way, my friend kept a record of who gave them how much so when they went to the wedding of a friend who attended theirs they checked the record book to see how much they received and then gave the newlyweds the same amount in return.

Money for a wedding gift? Pretty practical in my mind and saves the hassle of wondering what to buy! It's a custom I would like to see adopted back home really!

500 max

From experience, don't give 400, bad luck.

Ahh, well. Why not? Just got home, a glass of red while I peruse the posts on this page.

DD mentioned bridal registries back in the west. Not such a bad idea, I suppose.  They work for most people at home.

Money in an envelope? Not a bad idea, either. Less personal, perhaps, than a registry, but then again, a registry is a cold dish (or frying pan), too.

My understanding is wedding gifts of money are anonymous in China. You stuff some bills into an envelop and Bob's your uncle.

I've been to a number of weddings here and I generally slip a 100-dollar bill in the envelop. That may help offset the cost of the cheesy wedding receptions that are now all the rage here.  Or the lunch the guests are served, most of which is wasted and ends up in the rubbish bin.

Usually being the only alien attending the wedding, the C-note is noticed and I have been personally thanked for the, ahem, "contribution" some time later. Not quite the message I wish to convey to the newly-weds, though.  I don't think I should subsidize an extravaganza of waste such as a "New China" Chinese wedding, but rather, have bride and groom go out and spend the 100 bucks on a nice meal whilst on their honeymoon.

And that begs the question: do the Chinese take honeymoons?  Hmmm...

Just got married a few months ago.  A registry office job, thank goodness!

I've been in China for 3 1/2 years and have avoided several wedding invitations ever so skillfully.  Brilliant.

I think the whole reception thing is just a big scam.  An excuse to throw a hundred baijiu's down the throat, spit food all over the joint and be home asleep in front of the tv by 3 o'clock.

Why don't they take a few simple pics and give 10,000 kuai to the poor people?

If the couple is making 3.000-20.000 a month - give them 400 RMB

If the couple is making 20.000- 30.000 - give them 800 RMB

If they are making millions - give them a collections of Confucius teachings... audio format. 

Calculate the cost of a divorce and divide it by the number of guests at the wedding.

How was the wedding? Did they play some insanely inappropriate music, like when the bride tosses the flowers to the bridesmaids, "Like a virgin" ? How was the food? Was there any entertainment? Did the groom sing to his bride? Did people stay exactly until the flow of food stopped?