Lucky and unlucky numbers in China

October 3, 2026 · 5 min read

In China numbers are taken more seriously than Friday the 13th is in the West. A phone number full of eights costs extra, some elevators have no "4" button, and you can say "I love you" with the digits 520. None of this is mysticism; it's the language. Chinese has a fairly small set of syllables, so almost every number sounds like some other word.

That makes lucky and unlucky numbers a great way to train your ear for tones: in the pairs below the syllables sometimes differ by the tone alone. Tap a syllable to hear it. The numbers themselves, with pronunciation, are in Chinese numbers.

Why 4 is an unlucky number in China

Four, sìfour, sounds almost exactly like sǐdeath: the same sounds, a different tone. So the number 4 is avoided wherever people want good luck:

• Floors. In many apartment buildings and hotels the 3rd floor is followed by the 5th, and the 14th and 24th are skipped or renamed too.
• Numbers. Phone numbers, apartments and license plates with fours in them are cheaper and harder to sell.
• Gifts. People don't give four of anything as a present, and an amount with a 4 in it never goes into a gift envelope.

How strictly this is followed depends on the person: young people in big cities often don't care about fours at all. Still, don't be surprised if your hotel has no 4th floor.

Why 8 is the luckiest number

Eight, bāeight, sounds like fāto get rich, the first syllable of 发财, "to make a fortune". The tone is the same; only the first sound differs. Hence prices like 88 and 888 yuan, expensive "pretty" phone numbers and wedding dates full of eights.

The most famous example is the Beijing Olympics: they opened on August 8, 2008, 08/08/08, at 8:08 in the evening.

6 and 9: "smoothly" and "for a long time"

Six, liùsix, is reminiscent of liúto flow: everything runs its course without a hitch. The wish 六六大顺 (liù liù dà shùn) means "may everything go smoothly". And online, 666 means "awesome, nailed it", in comments under a game stream or a video.

Nine, jiǔnine, sounds exactly like 久 jiǔ — long (in time), tone and all. So nine is the number of a long life and lasting love: 99 roses for a wedding, and 9 is a popular digit in the dates couples choose to register their marriage.

2: a pair, but also "a bit dim"

Even numbers are considered luckier than odd ones: 好事成双 (hǎo shì chéng shuāng), "good things come in pairs". Wedding gifts are given in pairs, and the amounts in red envelopes are even.

But 二 èr — two also has a slang meaning: "dim, clueless". 你真二 is "you're such a dork". And 二百五, 250, is an outright insult, "idiot": that's one sum you never put in an envelope.

7: the lovers' festival

七 qī — seven on its own is neither lucky nor unlucky. But 七夕 (qīxī), the seventh evening of the seventh lunar month, is the Chinese Valentine's Day: in the legend, it's the night the weaver girl and the cowherd, separated by the Milky Way, get to meet.

Chinese number slang: 520, 1314, 88

In chat, numbers stand in for whole phrases, by sound, sometimes only a loose match:

• 520wǔèrlíng我爱你: I love yousounds like wǒ ài nǐ
• 1314yīsānyīsì一生一世: for a lifetimesounds like yī shēng yī shì
• 88bābā拜拜: bye-byesounds like bài bai
• 666liùliùliùawesome, nailed it
• 555wǔwǔwǔcrying: "boo-hoo-hoo"sounds like wū wū wū

Thanks to 520, May 20 has become a day for declarations of love on the Chinese internet: people give gifts and register marriages. How to say "I love you" in actual words is on the page "I love you" in Chinese.