Friday’s announcement of mindblowing Chinese sales numbers must have had an effect on the minds of the reporting profession, as evidenced by a quick read of the news. They are all over the landscape.
The China Post: “China’s passenger car sales jumped 49 percent in March from a year earlier.”
Associated Press: “China’s passenger car sales jumped 63 percent in March from a year earlier”
China.org: “First-quarter sales jumped 76 percent to 3.52 million units”
Sina.com: “New motor vehicle sales in China in the first three months of the year gained 2.67 percent year on year to hit 4.98 million.”
We could go on, but we don’t want to cause heavy trauma. Two options:
1. Bookmark the above. Judicious citations will allow you to win any argument about Chinese car sales.
2. Discard the above and rely on the official CAAM numbers, as reported by Xinhua via China Daily:
All auto sales, including commercial: Up 55.79 percent from a year earlier to 1.74m units in March. First quarter up 71.78 percent to 4.61 million units.
Passenger vehicles: Up 63.22 percent to 1.26m units in March. First quarter up 76.34 percent to 3.52 million units.
Actually, this form of numerology in floor counting is not unique to China. The Palms Casino in Las Vegas skips numerous floor numbers to get to the 55th floor in a 40-something story building.
You’re correct about floor numbers, and another thing not unique to China is an inconsistency in reported financial or sales numbers from different news sources.
I’m convinced that the more we like to think that our culture and capitalistic economy differs from that of the East, there are actually more similarities than differences. Come to think of it, I could advance the same argument for religion and politics…but won’t.
Back to the superstition of certain floor numbers: A co-worker visited her son who was working in China, and was telling us how silly she thought it was that many Chinese avoid the number four. Knowing she is semi-fundamentalist in her Christian beliefs, I quickly and quietly pointed out her aversion to the numbers 13 and 666. She thanked me, and then changed the telling of her story to contain, “…and just like we don’t like certain numbers like 13, a lot of Chinese don’t like the number four…”
I know that there are buildings in the US with a floor labeled as the 13th, but they seem to remain the exception.
This is Chinese / Western numerology:
4 = bad
13 = bad
14 = bad
23 = (no idea…)
I believe 23 has no special meaning in Chinese numerology. I think it’s an “extension” of 13, like 14 (shi-si) is of 4, so I am guessing they thought Westerners thought the same thing.
Just like in English “8” can also mean to “eat”
Chinese numbers have pronunciations that sound very much like other words… to some people the following numbers have alternate meanings
2 = fast or easy
3 = “new life”, “fertility”, “activity” or “growth”
4 = death
5 = change, not, no
6 = health
7 = certainty, for sure
8 = luck, riches, or wealth
So some number combinations are particularly bad. For example,
24 … Quick Death
48 … Death to Luck or Wealth.
Of course some number combinations are particularly good
28 … Easy Money!
The Chinese also like to buy into other peoples superstitions (and often misinterpret them)… If 13 is bad then they guess that 23, 33, and 43 are also bad.. since 4, 14, 24, 34 and 44 are all bad or really bad. Which isn’t the case.
To “old school” Chinese both 13 and 23 are considered to be “good” number combos since they both mean fertility or “growth”
But the lack of 4th 14th and 24th floors in Chinese building is just as goofy as the lack of a 13th floor in North American Buildings.
Evidently, 23 has been very lucky for some basketball playing individuals…