Forum trends: China's number superstitions

8 - Eight (Bā)

Chinese love the number eight very much. The pronunciation of number eight in Cantonese is "Fā" instead of "Bā", and is often associated with 發財 (Fācái), which means "Prosperity". Number eight is also often associated with the teaching of Buddhism because The Lotus Flower is often portrayed with 8 petals. Other than that, visually, number "88" looks similar to the character 囍 (Xǐ) that is formed from two characters of 喜 (Xǐ), which means "Happiness"

Number eight has a big influence in Chinese society, such as

- Chinese believed that it's auspicious to start a new business (open a new shops, restaurant, etc) on the 8th day of every month.

- The opening ceremony for the Beijing Olympic started at 8 August 2008, 8:08 pm Beijing Time.

- Chinese netizens often end their conversation with 88 that means "Bai Bai" (Bye Bye), which also means that we send off our chatting partner with a good wish.

- When buying an apartment in China, the rooms on the 8th floor will be more expensive compared to the rooms on another floor.

- In aChinese restaurant, a default set is 8 chairs surrounding a round table.