Chinese American Cafe

The Chinese concept of lucky numbers is similar to that of other cultures and is
based on the mystical good and bad relationships associated with certain
numbers.

The key to good or bad numbers in Cantonese is based on sound. For example,
the number two (2) is fortunate, because it is similar to the sound (?) of  “easy”; in
Cantonese. Three (3) is associated with living. Eight (8) is associated with
“prosperity”. Nine (9) is associated with “eternal”. The numbers Four (4) and Seven
(7) are associated with “death”. Some numbers are bad luck when they are
combined. Five (5) and Eight (8) are associated with “no prosperity”. One (1), Six
(6), and Eight (8) are associated with “ongoing wealth”.

The tradition of the intuition of numbers for the Chinese is boundless. This belief is
often put into practice when the Chinese name businesses and clubs that they
hope will attract many customers. This phenomenon of lucky numbers has
traveled to the United States now as well. Observe the number of personalized
automobile license plates you see that are owned by Chinese and have the
numbers eight or nine.