China's lucky day

Why is China starting the Beijing Olympics on 08/08/08 at 08:08? The reason is very simple. The Chinese are very superstitious about numbers, especially the last digit in a string of numbers.

For example the number 4 sounds like death so they will avoid the number as the last digit on a mobile telephone or land line. Some apartment blocks and hotels do not have floors 4, 14, 24, 34 as they are seen as unlucky. If there is a floor ending with the number 4 then a westerner or someone who is not superstitious can get a bargain.

The number 8 is believed to stand for prosperity. So many business will start in the 8th month. There is the aim to finish building projects in the eighth month. So if you are in China in late July or August you will find a frenzy of people building and trying to get jobs finished for the auspicious time. There is the same level of activity in the eighth lunar month as China also operates on a lunar calendar. This lunar calendar means the spring festival is very early in the year (late January or February) telephone numbers for businesses will have an 8 at the end if they can on mobile telephones and land lines.

Marriages will only be arranged on a good day. If you see one wedding convoy on a particular day then you will probably see many more. These are easily recognizable with the cars having flowers taped to them and the number of large cars in the convoy. Often the wedding reception will be held in a hotel, and if it is your hotel then do not be afraid to ask the bride and groom if you can take their photo. They will be pleased and you may have a photograph taken with them as well. Westerners are seen as being important and no large advertising campaign will be complete without a Westerner endorsing the Chinese product to the Chinese. There is a great deal of superstition about numbers and days. So for the Chinese days and dates are very important. So the Chinese have given this auspicious date for the 2008 Olympics.

You will see that the Chinese have planned this out very carefully. They consider that they are going to get the best of the prosperity from these superstitions.