Hong Kong tourist turns McDonald’s prize into citywide giveaway

A mainland Chinese tourist who won a HK$10,000 McDonald’s voucher in Hong Kong used the final 24 hours of her visit to distribute meals to strangers, including cleaners, police officers, elderly people and homeless residents. The woman said on RedNote that she won the voucher through Alipay on Saturday. A screenshot accompanying her post said the prize was valid for one week, could be used in up to 10 transactions of no more than HK$1,000 each, and was restricted to McDonald’s outlets in Hong Kong.

With one day remaining before she returned to the mainland, and with in-store gift cards sold out, she decided to use the credit to buy food for other people. She visited branches in Wan Chai, Central and Tsim Sha Tsui, moving between outlets to avoid placing too much pressure on individual staff and to remain within the transaction limit. The woman described herself as an introvert and said she initially found it difficult to approach strangers.

She recalled grabbing people at restaurant entrances and switching between Chinese and English while offering to pay for their orders. At one outlet, she said, she shouted: “Who wants McDonald’s? I’ll buy it for you!” Her social media post attracted attention in Hong Kong, and users began arriving to help spread the word.

Besides passers-by, she gave meals to sanitation workers, children and other people she encountered. Some recipients gave her fruit, snacks, face masks and postcards, which she kept as souvenirs. The giveaway also left her exhausted.

After distributing thousands of dollars’ worth of food on the first night, she said a mix-up resulted in her receiving a bag of sauce instead of her own burger. She resumed the effort on Sunday morning to use the remaining credit before departing from West Kowloon Station. By Wednesday, her RedNote posts had received more than 125,000 likes.

McDonald’s later gave her a HK$1,000 meal card, which she said she would use to treat cleaners and relatives on the mainland. Alipay Official praised her for passing the prize’s benefits to others.