Millie (not her real name) went to Beijing last year on a business trip on behalf of her family. When she met Shasha, a prospective partner, the latter whipped out her name card and presented it with both hands to Millie with a small bow.
Millie gave hers, but says “I wasn’t sure if I had to bow, because this was China, not Japan … I ended up smiling at Shasha instead, but of course, I presented my card to her with both hands also.”
“Shasha inspected my card, and asked me where Quezon City was located with regard to Manila,” Millie says. “I am ashamed to say I did not know the distance between them … I just told her that with traffic, it would take around a two to three hours to go from one city to the other.
“I was about to stuff Shasha’s card into my bag, but since she was looking at mine so closely, I decided I would do the same. So I asked Shasha about the location of her office, too. I was also a bit shocked by her office number.”
“You need to examine the card you just received and make some small comment about the card,” say Yi and Bryan Ellis in their book “101 Stories for Foreigners to Understand Chinese People.”
“The Chinese will typically comment on the location of your … company if they are in a good area of the city. Or they will say what they have heard about your company’s latest development to show that your company is famous and that they are well-informed. Or they will say something flattering about your specific position in the company such as ‘Well, that must be a very big job you have there.’
“Likewise, they expect you to read their cards briefly and give your comments to show that you actually care enough to pay attention to who they are.”
Why was Millie shocked by Shasha’s number? Because it contains the string “666.”
“That’s the Antichrist, isn’t it?” Millie says. “I wanted to ask Shasha why she did not change her number, but she seems happy with it. I thought Chinese are superstitious when it comes to numbers—four is bad and eight is good [but] 666 must be horrible!”
The Chinese character for “four” sounds like the term for “death,” so it is believed to be an unlucky number. Some buildings in China or those owned by the Chinese do not have the 14th, especially the 44th floor. On the other hand, the 13th floor is perfectly fine.
“Eight” in Cantonese sounds like “wealth,” so businesses go to great lengths to get addresses, phone numbers, license plates with lots of 8s.
In the Philippines, this practice has become mainstream, with many individuals angling for 8s for their mobile phones or condo units.
Six does not hold a stigma for the Chinese as it does for Christians. “Six” in Chinese sounds like the word for “happiness,” so it’s a lucky number.
I tell Millie that our car’s license plate has 666. At first, I hated it, but my husband commented that a string of 6s is perfectly fine.
Millie’s younger brother Theo accompanied her to the dinner. Theo was disconcerted when Shasha shook his hand, peered closely at his face, and proclaimed, “This is a lucky partnership for us! You have big earlobes and a big nose!”
“Theo was trying to lose weight, so he was a bit hurt, even if he attempted to smile,” Millie says. “I told him that there was no malice intended, so thankfully the dinner went well.”
“When I was a child, I was annoyed when the elders would comment about my nose,” I tell Millie. “I wanted my mother’s elegant nose, but I got a more prominent one from my father. But then, my father would smile happily at their comments, so I decided the nose size must be a good one.”
Big earlobes are thought to be harbingers of good fortune, and a big nose a sign of prosperity. They are reminiscent of the Happy or Laughing Buddha (Hotei or Pu-Tai), with a round face, prominent nose and big ear lobes.