The number 8 is probably the most favored number in modern China with its association with wealth and luck. Chinese’ fondness for this number can be observed both in trivial matters and in big moments.

　　在现代中国“8”可能是最受人们喜爱的数字了，总是是财富和好运联系在一起。在大事小情上都可以看到中国人对“8”的喜爱。

　　Traditional Taoism

　　一、传统道教。

　　In Taoist culture, 8 is associated with wholeness and completeness. According to I Ching (易经), the bagua (八卦), or the eight trigrams, are the foundation that generates everything.

　　在道教文化中，“8”和整体性、完整性相关。按照《易经》的说法，“八卦”是世间万物诞生的基础。

　　The Eight Directions (Bafang 八方) represent the whole universe in Taoist spatial conception. These eight directions are also used to explain individual destiny, as in Bazi (八字), a Chinese fortune-telling method that depicts one’s life course according to the trigram of one’s date of birth.

　　在道教的空间概念中，“八方”代表了整个宇宙。这八个方向还可以用来解释个人的运道，例如“八字”——这是一种中国算命术，可以根据一个人生辰日期的卦象来算出前途命运。

　　Modern Materialism

　　二、现代唯物主义。

　　In modern China, ’8’ is allotted a new association with wealth. ’Eight’ in Chinese sounds similar to fa, meaning "well-off" or "getting rich in a short time". Thus 8 is considered a number that invites great wealth.

　　在现代中国，“8”又被赋予了代表财富的新含义。中文“八”谐音“发”，寓意“财运昌隆”或者“爆富”。因此“8”被认为是一个招财的数字。

　　Associating ’8’ with money is believed to originate in Cantonese culture, especially Hong Kong culture, and soon became popular in other parts of China, as the country and its people are pursuing economic development, and its associated material benefits.

　　“8”和钱有关的想法被认为起源于粤语文化(尤其是香港文化)，后来很快便在中国其他地方也流行了起来——因为中国和中国人都在追求经济发展、以及“8”所代表的物质利益。

　　The 2008 Olympics

　　三、2008年奥运会。

　　Maybe the best example that shows how Chinese are obsessed with lucky number 8 is the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games.

　　也许显示出中国人如何痴迷于幸运数字“8”的最好例子是2008年北京奥运会。

　　The opening ceremony of the Olympic Games commenced exactly at 8 minutes and 8 seconds past 8 pm on the 8th August, the 8th month of the 8th year of the 21st century.

　　2008年8月8日晚8点8分8秒北京奥运会开幕式准时开始。

　　Birth Dates

　　四、生日。

　　It is not only the state that wants an auspicious number for its important events; individuals also want to catch it for their babies. In 2008, there were 170 million new-borns, 5 million more than 2007, making a record since early 1990s. Most of the babies were born around August (the 8th month). Many hope that the luck of number 8 will bring fortune to their babies’ lives.

　　不仅仅国家想为重大事件挑选一个吉利的日期，中国人也想为自己的孩子挑选一个寓意良好的生日。2008年中国新生儿数量达到了1700万，比2007年多了500万，创下了上世纪90年代以来的最高记录。当年大多数新生儿都在8月份出生。许多人都希望幸运数字“8”可以为自己孩子带来好运。

　　Number Plates

　　五、车牌号。

　　Chinese’ fondness for 8 can be observed even in small things such as number plates. In 2014, two number plates with "8888" in them were sold for 12 million and 17.2 million separately in Zhengzhou and Shenzhen, an amazingly high price for a piece of metal.

　　中国人对“8”的喜爱甚至还可以从车牌等小东西上看出来。2014年郑州和深圳两个“8888”车牌被卖出了1200万和1720万人民币的天价，一块小小的金属板能够卖出这样的高价着实让人震惊。

　　House Numbers, Phone Numbers, Wedding Dates...

　　六、房号、电话号码、结婚日期…

　　In choosing house numbers, phone numbers, or date of important events such as weddings, there is also a high preference for numbers with 8 in them.

　　在选择房号、电话号码、甚至例如结婚等重要事件的日期时，中国人也很偏好选择数字“8”。

（编辑：何莹莹）