OK… what’s up with 888? Well I’ll tell you!. 8/8/08 is the day in Chinese culture when their lucky numbers appear three times in the date! 888 is the most celebrated and “lucky” numbers in Chinese culture, especially when they appear three times. So why is eight a lucky number in Chine culture well.

Eight in Cantonese, baat, sounds like the word for prosperity, faat, which extends to connote all things lucky. It explains the abundance of eights in phone numbers belonging to Chinese and the scores of Chinese businesses that feature an eight.

It is also why China’s Olympic planners chose to kick off the Games on Aug. 8 at 8:08 p.m.

The combination of fortuitous timing and the start of the historic sporting event would figure to command significance in Southern California’s Chinese community equal to, say, Thanksgiving, the Fourth of July and the Super Bowl rolled into one.

So guess what most of the people are doing. Getting married and/or gambling! Best thing to do when you feel lucky right?!

Business has been hopping at Chinese banquet halls and Temple City’s Asian bridal district on Las Tunas Drive. Tsao and Chung were turned away at a dozen wedding sites that were booked for up to a year before they succeeded in finding a location.

“I’ve had twice as much business,” said Jay Hsiang of Temple City’s Oscar Photography. “They started booking us the middle of last year.”

Several large Chinese American associations hoped to turn 8-8-08 into an extravaganza at the Hollywood Park Casino, the same venue where they celebrated the hand-over of Hong Kong and Macao to the Chinese.

So buy a lotto ticket, pick a mate, or put it all one red! It’s 8/8/08!

Source: LATimes

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