In Chinese, the word for eight sounds close to a word that is linked with wealth and prosperity. For this reason, the number eight is seen as very lucky. It can mean prosperity, money and status, so it is easy to understand why many people love this number.

The 2008 Beijing Olympic Games opened at about 8 pm local time on the eighth day of the eighth month. This means that the date and the time were full of the lucky number eight. It is a good example of how a belief about one number can be seen in a big public event.

The number four is different. In Chinese, the word for four sounds like the word for death, so four is seen as unlucky. Because of this, some buildings, hotels especially, skip the fourth floor or call it the fifth floor. Some lifts go even further and skip every floor with a four in its number.

People in other parts of the world have an unlucky number too. The fear of the number 13 is called triskaidekaphobia. In the Western world, some buildings leave out the 13th floor. Where the two habits meet, a building may leave out the 13th floor and every floor with a four in it.