Numerology, superstitiousness or simply believe what you want

Numbers have a whole different meaning in China.
Most of us know that the Chinese are very superstitious, but just HOW superstitious didn’t become clear to me until recently when I started paying attention to little details. I asked some local friends and colleagues, and they went through some very interesting number facts.

The number 8 is known as a lucky number in China (why else do you think the Olympic Games opening ceremony took place on the 2008-08-08, at 8pm?) The reason why? Well, the pronunciation of ‘8’ in Chinese is ‘ba’ 八 which is very similar to ‘fa’ 发 (yeah right!), which in Chinese means wealth/make a fortune.

When the Chinese choose mobile phone numbers, a number combination like ‘188’ or ‘518’ is very popular, and this is because ‘188’ (yi-ba-ba) also can sound like ‘yao fa fa’ 要发发 (want to make a fortune), and ‘588’ (wu-ba-ba’) can be read as ‘wo fa fa’我发发(I make a fortune).

When I arrived in Guiyang and went with a Chinese admin person from my school to get a SIM card, I was asked in the shop to choose a number. When i said, that I don't really care, the shop assistants, including the admin person, were quite shocked. They insisted however, that I either chose a number from a list given to me, or I could tell them a number of my choice, and they'd look it up on their system. When I repeated for a second time, that I do not care, the admin person turned over to me and tried with some bloomy words to make me pick one. I had to ask him why it is so important. Only then he told me all the fuzz about the numbers, and that there's a whole science behind it. He didn't say which number I could pick and which not. So, when I said, I'd like a telephone number with some fours and fives in it, because 'Four to the floor' by Starsailor is one of my favourite tracks ever, he and the shop assistants almost fainted.

The Chinese despise the number 4, however, because 4 is pronounced ‘si’四 and is very similar to another word: ‘si’ 死which means death in Chinese.

In the complex where a friend lives, there are 38 floors, but no 4th, 14th, 24th or 34th floor. That’s how much they despise number 4! Giving presents that includes the number four, like 4 boxes of chocolate, an envelope with 400 Yuan, etc.. is therefore a big no-no. Go for number like 8 or 6 instead.

I got a number with four 8s at the end.

And then, as I posted last week, if you find yourself falling in love with a Chinese boy or a girl, but are on the shy side, you can always express your emotions with a cute number-text: 520 (wu 五 er 二 ling零 –which almost (with a lot of fantasy) sounds like ‘wo 我ai 爱ni 你’= I LOVE YOU) and then 1314 (yi 一 san 三 yi 一si 四 –which sounds like (yeah right!) ‘yi 一sheng 生yi 一she世= ALWAYS AND FOREVER).

There you go. Love and numbers. Now you can finally tell your partner what s/he's been longing to hear...

The following three number combination, 666, doesn't mean evil, nor is it the number of the devil, but it means amazing, awesome, you use it to flatter someone, or for approval, or kick ass.

Number 2 - er, also means stupid.

Number 5 - wu, pronounced uh-uh, means to cry. So if you receive a text with many 5s - 55555555, it means that someone is crying about something, e.g. failed an exam or something.

The combination 2333333 means rolling on the floor with laughter.

The combination 333, means want to kiss someone. But it also has a completely different meaning when fighting. There you tell your opponent who is about to beat you, to go away.


    The lockers in my gym. No number four. Jumps from three to five.

         And here's a list.

If you would like to read more by me, here are my novel and my diary from Ar'ar, in the northern Saudi desert. Both available on Amazon as soft and hard copy. 

Luv is in the air ....

If you ever wondered, what brings us foreigners to China, here is the answer!
We don't care about money, we have enough. We're all rich westerners, or even from one of the countries of the former Soviet Union. We are also highly educated, have great jobs, some of you never heard of, work for the best companies out there, have achieved much in our lives, and now here we are, to find our perfect match.
Reading this propagandistic article, I couldn't help, but thinking of and humming John Paul Young's 'Love is in the air'. It must be the red communist colour of love, that attracts us and makes us fall in love with beautiful Chinese women, and handsome Chinese men.
If you have a different opinion, please feel free to share.


Here we are, having a blast with two handsome Chinese men.

      Looks like a boy band.

       I have to disagree with that. Maybe in some parts of Beijing and Shanghai, foreigners are a common sight on the streets, but in other cities, they aren't. And in the major part of the country, people have never seen a foreigner in their lives. That's why they treat us like superstars.
As for the blond hair, many Chinese friends have told me, that they can't distinguish blond from brown or other colours. To them, we are all blond.
'What brings you to China?' is a common question, but you hear it elsewhere too.

Xia Yuan is a Ukrainian name? And she couldn't find a man back home, that's why she came to China. What does she do again? Does she work, or is she a student? What if the handsome Chinese man speaks fluent English or even Russian? All those years of language study are for nothing.

Another funny sounding name. Ding Nuo is Italian? Yeah, and I'm Pope Francis. Brave to drive to poor areas in a Merc.
Most foreigners here have little cards with names and addresses written in Mandarin. It doesn't help though if the local person you show it to, is illiterate.

Here we are, with our top notch, but underpaid jobs. And of course we show off with our qualifications.

If you want to look good and advertise your business, get a 'white plant' and ask them to smile all day. That's how it works. And it really does. Sex sells in the West, a pretty white face with blue or green eyes, sells here.
Becoming a Chinese citizen is almost impossible, even if you are married to a handsome boy or beautiful girl. There's no such thing as a Chinese Green Card. There's a one year renewable resident visa.
As we said before, we work in underpaid jobs, and sometimes there's much month left, but the money is gone, that's why we cry and beg for money.

           This could be me with my lot.

            That is indeed me. Those are the reasons, why I'm here. All true.

           Here we are again. Having fun travelling, taking photos, spending the little money we earn, and marrying local beauties. I wonder who takes the ugly ones....

      Dashan, another typical foreign name. I wonder what country he is from. Lucky him, who speaks Mandarin and found the love of his life here. I envy him so much!

         Here we are again with our fantastic jobs! Canada has a consulate in Chongqing? Why are my Canadian friends going to Beijing or Shanghai for their visas?

Here's the link to the article, if it hasn't been removed. (opens in a new window)

If you would like to read more by me, here are my novel and my diary from Ar'ar, in the northern Saudi desert. Both available on Amazon as soft and hard copy. 

Star of Outlook

If 'Star of Outlook' sounds funny and doesn't make sense to you, never mind, you're not alone. I have no idea what its Chinese name is, and if the English is a word for word translation, but, since it is an English speaking contest, it deserves a better name, or at least one that makes sense.
Last weekend were the finals of the Guizhou province, and many contestants arrived from all over the province. The event took place in Huaxi, a suburb south of Guiyang. The venue is situated in a park, and one of the local universities is next door.
Start was on Friday. Children of all ages came to register. The little ones had their parents with them, whereas most of the older ones didn't. Saturday and Sunday were the various competitions.
Since there were several hundred kids competing, there were four or five venues. The winners have gone to the next round, which is the Gran Finale in Beijing. There, they will compete against the winners from all other provinces and there will be one nationwide winner, who will get a scholarship to study at the best university in China.
This is a nationwide competition and runs almost a year. Start is either in September or October, and it ends in mid-June. There are many stages and levels to pass, and a lot of work to do, not only for the contestants, but also for the teachers, parents, and whoever is involved.
One of the tasks is a one-minute-speech. The children have to talk about a certain topic, such as 'my best memory', in front of an audience and a jury and get points for it. They can also perform something within the minute they're given. Another task is to form sentences or little stories out of two or three words given. Another task is to describe a photo. And another task is to answer one question the jury asks. Questions can be: What's your favourite subject? What's your favourite colour? What's your father or mother like? What will you do in your next holidays? Again, they have up to one minute to answer.
The thing with this contest is, that the schools know the possible questions and prepare the kids accordingly. The speeches on a specific topic are written by teachers or someone who knows good English, and the kids learn them off by heart. At my school, the director of studies writes them, and I correct them. Also there are little booklets with 5000 words the judges might pick. So basically, at least with the little ones, most of it is fake. Don't expect a seven-year-old to know what their speech is about. Chinese are masters at memorising and copying. There are many, many hours of training behind all that, and when they appear on stage, everything seems perfect. You're blown away if you don't know the details.
My task on Friday was to show my pretty face. We had a stand outside the building, and gave the people info about various things, and I had to speak to whoever wanted to talk to me, and get photographed with them. Since I was the only foreigner on site, I was the sight, the star of the day. Some kids, especially the little ones, were too shy to talk to me, or come anywhere near me. They were pushed by their parents, but the kids hid behind them. The older ones either giggled or were cool. It was an experience for people from smaller towns, who had never seen a white person before. They wanted many photos and even hugged me or stared at me for a while. Many mums wanted a photo, too.
On Saturday, I was supposed to be one of the judges, but I had to be replaced. Why? Because the high school girls made me compliments while on stage, forgot their speeches, took photos of me from the stage, and basically didn't do what they were supposed to do. I then was sent to another room where the primaries were. Some kiddies lost their words when they saw me, so I had to be replaced again. I then was sent out of the room to do admin stuff or just sit around.
On Sunday one of the things I had to do, was promoting my school by giving an one-hour-speech on travelling. The hall was packed with 300 something students, many parents and visitors. At the end of my speech, followed a photo session, which lasted for more than half an hour.
The television was there, and many journalists, too. Not sure what they reported, because I don't watch TV, and can't read the papers.
It was a tiresome, but fun event.

    Cover of a booklet.

   One of the venues

    Our stand

                     Two of my colleagues

                     Four of my colleagues

    One of the contestants with my colleague going through her speech

    My colleague giving out info to some contestants

    Having fun with my colleagues

                      My colleague, one of our students, and me

                      hihihihi

                     With two of the volunteers from the uni next door

The registration team (part of it)

    The registration team (another part of it)

    The registration team (another part of it)

    Getting registered

Easy (her English name), one of our admin ladies

                     The certificate the contestants get for participating

    The trophies

                                    Some of the contestants

                      At work

If you would like to read more by me, here are my novel and my diary from Ar'ar, in the northern Saudi desert. Both available on Amazon as soft and hard copy.