Numbered Superstitions

Nov. 23, 2016
10:30 pm
Beijing, China

Another day off and not much to report. I am debating whether I should keep posting every day since there are many (like today) where nothing much really happened. I can’t even tell you stories about kids or anything because I was in my apartment for most of the day. Maybe this is a sign that I need to get out more, but after traveling yesterday and knowing what an exhausting week lies ahead, I just wanted to sleep in and hang out all day.

That being said, there is a short story I can tell. It’s really not that exciting. But earlier today I was sitting on my bed watching a TV show on my computer when I heard what I thought was someone trying to unlock my door. At first I was positive I had made it up, considering I’m the only one who lives here and my managers have been really good about messaging, or at least knocking, when they need to come check the apartment. I though maybe it was just the echo of one of my neighbors. But I did pause my show and listen a bit harder. The sound stopped, but then started again. It was definitely coming from my door. I got off of bed, went to my front door, and unlocked the deadbolt (really happy I had used that now). I opened the door just a tiny bit to find two Chinese men with a key in their hands. I greeted them with a confused expression and a “Ni hao?” They responded by telling me that they were trying to get to room 8A05. Apparently the desk hadn’t informed them that Floor 4 is called Floor A, so they had assumed that the first number (8) indicated the floor. I quickly informed them that they were looking for the 4th floor and sent them on their way. By the way, every room number begins with 8. I think it might just be a luck thing. My room is 8805 with the second character indicating that I live on floor 8 (stop by and see me if you’re in the area).

Now you may ask why Floor 4 is Floor A. China is a very superstitious country. I mean a seriously superstitious country. Like I-can’t-live-on-a-floor-with-the-number-4-in-the-address kind of superstitious. 4 is an unlucky number in China. This is (as Wikipedia puts it) because the pronunciation is nearly homophonous to the word “death.” In China, four or 四 is pronounced ‘sì’ while death or 死 is pronounced ‘sǐ.’ Therefore, many buildings skip floor 4, like Western buildings skip floor 13. Our building still has a 4th floor, it’s just called floor A. On the other hand, I live on a very lucky floor, since I’m on floor 8, and 8 is an extremely lucky number in China. 8 is lucky because it sounds like the word for “wealth” or “prosper.” People actually request things with the number 8 in it because it’s such a strong symbol of luck. I could explain all of China’s superstitious numbering beliefs, but I’d basically just be plagiarizing the Wikipedia article. So instead of doing something unethical, and possibly illegal, I will just put the link to the article here, so you can look at that if you want more info.

So yeah, that’s what I’ve got. Also, if you wouldn’t mind, I’ve added a small poll at the bottom of this blog. If you would please give your opinion, I’d greatly appreciate it. Have a good night, all.

Bless,
Kristen