A date with 8s - considered favorable in Chinese culture - could bring you prosperity

Toss aside Lucky 7. This year, look for good fortune to land on the 8s: 8/8/08. Today.
The source of the day's numerical hope is China, where the word 8 sounds a lot like the word for prosperity, said Nine-Min Cheng, community-outreach director of Houston's Chinese Community Center and principal of its language school.Many natives of China - or those inspired by the culture - are drawn to 8. They seek it out for phone numbers, license plates, e-mail addresses, names and special events as a sign portending luck or prosperity in their lives and endeavors.

Take the Olympics. They start today at 8 p.m. Beijing time, according to the games' official Web site. Or 888 Chinese Restaurant, which has three locations including a new one in Clear Lake called 888 Bistro.
"The number in China is a very super lucky number," said Jin Xiu Zheng, manager of the restaurant near Gulfgate Mall.

"We wish luck for all the people, for the customers, for us, for the business."

Hoi Fung, owner of Fung's Kitchen, said he has an 8 in his address, his license plate, his phone number, his fax number and in his bank accounts.

"It is some sort of phenomenon," said Thomas Poung Au, of the Asia Society Texas Center's advisory board.

"It's almost like it's better to believe that it works than not believe it," he added with a laugh. "I don't think everyone takes it too seriously, but they do it in case it actually works."

Even Au points to a couple of significant 8s in his life. He married in 1978 and started his international marketing firm in Houston, Poung Au Design, in 1988. He is retired now.

The association of 8 and luck stems from Cantonese tradition, Cheng said, though some say the verbal association is also in Mandarin. But it now spans China, Au said.

"Everybody from the south, from Hong Kong to Shanghai to Beijing, believes the number 8 is a lucky number," he said. "It's universal."

Its universality has extended all the way to the capital of looking-for-luck, Las Vegas.

"We are anticipating that 8/8/08 is going to be a very popular day for visitation to Las Vegas," said Alicia Malone, public relations manager for the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority. As a rule, any date with repeating numbers usually plays well in Vegas, she said.

Businesses in the city are hoping to cash in. Salons are offering reduced rates of $88 for services, and at least one hotel will feature Chinese lion dances in the casino. The Stratosphere Casino Hotel and Tower is hosting a mass wedding at 8:08 p.m. for 88 couples at a cost of $8.88 each.

Even outside Sin City, Super 8 Motel is getting in on the good-luck action by offering 800 rooms daily for 8 days for $8.88 after 8 p.m. today.

Prosperity may come to gamblers with the number 8. But the association is not necessarily with games of chance but for a personal lucky number chosen because it is an anniversary date or the jersey number of a favorite sports star, said Aaron Smith of Casino Event, a Houston-based company that hosts parties.

"Seven is definitely the big one," Smith said. "That is the come-out roll (in craps). People try to hit 7 or 11. But there is really nothing to 8."

When it comes to weddings, the number 8 is no 7.

Last year, 7/7/07 was a winning combination, especially for couples heading to the altar. The Knot, a wedding Web site company, had 70,000 couples registered on knot.com and weddingchannel.com, company spokeswoman Melissa Bauer said.

By comparison, about 22,000 registered users plan to marry today. Bauer said that is many more than the 5,000 who sign up to say 'I do' on a typical Friday in August.

At David's Bridal, which has more than 280 stores throughout the country, today is expected to be the sixth-most-popular wedding date of the year, company spokeswoman Cindi Freeburn said. Nearly 8,000 brides have chosen a dress from a David's store to wear today, 150 of them from stores in the Houston area.

The most popular wedding date of the year for David's customers was June 7, also known as 6/7/08. That day drew about 15,000 customers to the stores, "proving the theory of an interest in numerical significance," Freeburn said.

David's customer 25-year-old Emily Binion and her fiance, Daniel Clay, are among the couples getting married today. The choice was a coincidence, Binion said. But once she started writing out those 8s on forms, she realized they had made a lucky choice.

"It was a cool date," Binion said. "It is easy to remember, so it is lucky for my fiance."

Courtesy of The Houston Chronicle