Explainer | Lucky phone numbers and wedding dates to dining don’ts, Chinese numerology superstitions
- Numbers bring luck and misfortune in Chinese tradition. We look at the digits coveted and avoided, from building floors to car number plates
Learn the ins and outs of feng shui, villain hitting, and fortunetelling as well as the dos and don’ts for cultivating good luck in our series on Chinese superstitions.
Have you ever wondered why some Hong Kong buildings do not have floors numbered 4 or 13, or why people avoid ordering seven dishes at restaurants?
The answers to such questions lie in long-held Chinese superstitions associated with numbers; certain digits are believed to bring good luck, while others are believed to bring misfortune.
From car registration plates to phone numbers, here are five ways Chinese people seek to maximise their good luck through auspicious numbers.
1. Buildings
In Chinese culture, 4 is associated with misfortune because its pronunciation in Cantonese and Mandarin is similar to that of the word for death.
