In Chinese culture, certain numbers are believed by some to be auspicious because their pronunciation is similar to auspicious words. As a result, numbers that have similar pronunciation as auspicious words are viewed by people as lucky numbers that can bring them good fortune.
Number 6, 8, and 9 are all believed to be auspicious because their pronunciations are similar to words that have positive meanings.
Six
The number 6 (六, liù) in Mandarin is pronounced the same as "fluid" (流, liú) and is therefore considered good for business. The number 6 also represents happiness. In Cantonese, this number is a homophone for blessings (禄, lok). Moreover, idioms like "六六大顺" (大顺dà shun), which means everything is smooth sailing, further exemplifies the auspiciousness of the number six.
Eight
The number 8 (八, bā) sounds similar to the word "发" (fā) which means "to prosper" or "become wealthy." When two eights are put side by side, there is also a visual resemblance to the word "囍" (shuāng xĭ) or double joy, a popular decorative design composed of two stylized characters 喜 (xĭ) meaning joy or happiness.
Nine
The number 9 is a homophone of the word (久), meaning "long lasting." As a result, the number 9 is often seen in wedding decorations. Traditionally, the number 9 was considered to be the largest number and it was historically associated with the emperor of China; for example, the emperor's robes often had nine dragons, and Chinese mythology held that the dragon had nine children.
Cultural and Economic Impact
Because of the supposed auspiciousness of certain numbers, people will often pick the date with auspicious numbers for important events. For example, on dates containing 6 or 9, we often see a surge of weddings parties. This year's September 9th will be extra popular among newlyweds because it is also 2009. Besides picking auspicious dates for important events, people will also pay large sums of money for their phone numbers, street addresses, and vehicle plate numbers to contain as many auspicious numbers as possible. For example, a telephone number with all digits being eights was sold for $270,723 in Chengdu, China; the opening ceremony of the Summer Olympics in Beijing started on August 8th, 2008 at 8:08PM; a man in Hangzhou offered to sell his license plate reading A88888 for RMB 1.12 million (roughly $164,000 USD).
8 months, 2 weeks ago
Regarding auspicious or lucky numbers:---Chinese also feel 518 is also a lucky number.
RAO