Just as in Western culture, numbers also play an important role in the attribution of happiness and suffering. For example, the number 4 is missing when counting floors. As a stranger, you only realize this when you use the elevator and, on closer inspection, don't find a fourth floor. The Chinese word for 4 四 (pronounced Sì) bears a strong phonetic similarity to the Chinese word 死 (pronounced Sǐ) meaning "to die". Because the two words are so easily confused, it is better not to use them right away.
Anyone who now thinks that the Chinese are crazy should look to Europe. We omit the 13th floor. Nobody wants to live there either. And since the Chinese think outside the box more than we Europeans, they leave out the number 13 out of politeness towards us, as you can see on the floors of this elevator below.
The number 14 is also missing, since the Chinese count quite simply: 14 is ten 十 (pronounced Shí), plus four 四, together making 十四, pronounced: Shí Sì. And because it is so consequent, the 24 is also missing, which consists of two 二 (pronounced: Èr), ten 十, four 四, makes together: 二十四, spoken: Èr Shí Sì, so at the end the dangerous one again Sì, which can be understood as four, but also as dying.
But numbers also bring luck: In China it is 6 and if you wish someone the best of luck, the number appears three times: 666. The emoticon above is sent in this case. With us the number 666 stands for the devil. At least since the revelation of John we have known that the beast, the Antichrist, wrote the number 666 on his forehead. Incidentally, what in the 666 emoticon above looks like a sign for: "Let's make a call" is something else entirely. It is the hand sign for the number six.
The Chinese count with their fingers just like us, but while we need both hands from six onwards, the Chinese continue counting with one hand. This can have undesirable consequences. For example, when a European orders two beers, he makes the following sign:
But unfortunately in China this stands for the number 8. So you get eight beers. There are worse things, but you can't drink the eight beers in one go and unfortunately they get stale over time. The Chinese show the 2 very differently, depending on the region they either raise their index and middle fingers, which roughly corresponds to our victory sign, or they do it with their pinky and ring finger, which I think is not that easy to show .
When it comes to license plates, the number sequences are blossoming. The number 8 signifies wealth and money. The numbers 6 and 8 promise luck and wealth. You don't get license plates with such numbers by chance in China, but they are hotly courted - and expensive. A license plate with 8888 is simply priceless because such plates are auctioned. For example, in the city of Shenzhen, a license plate with this sequence of numbers was auctioned for 205,000 euros in 2025. So it was almost as expensive as the luxury BMW the driver was driving. Internet users rail against such excesses: for 1 million yuan you can get a 100 square meter apartment outside of the metropolis of Shenzhen and just half a license plate in the city. Others clamor that license plates belong to the public and are peddled by the city.
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