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In Chinese culture, people believe some numbers are lucky or unlucky. This is to see what Chinese character the number sounds like. For example, the Chinese word for the number 8 sounds like the word for “making a fortune”. So, people think it is a very lucky number. Some people spend a lot of money to have 8s in their phone numbers. The opening time of the Beijing Olympics began at 8:08 p.m. on August 8, 2008.
The number 9 is also a lucky number. It is something to do with the emperors of China. There were nine dragons on emperors' robes(龙袍). Today, 9 often stands for “long lasting”. That's why close friends always use 99 or 999 to describe their friendship.
So what's a “bad luck” number in China? It might be 4. Many Chinese people see 4 as a “bad luck” number. Because it sounds like the Chinese character for “death”.
Because of this, many buildings don't have the fourth floor, and just call it the fifth floor. In Hong Kong, some buildings even don't have all floors numbered with 4, such as, 4、14、24、34 and all 40-49 floors. Some buildings also don't have the 13th floor as 13 is an unlucky number in the West. Now a question for you: How many floors are actually there if a building's highest floor is numbered 50?
