Quote:
Originally Posted by Klazu
Notice that there is no monkey business with the floor numbering in Sovereign. Even floor 13 is there and only 4 is missing.
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That's Chinese monkey business. The number 4 sounds like the word for "death," so it's avoided. Subsequent numbers containing the digit "4," like "24," are okay, but they can't all be "4." You won't have a 44th floor or a flight 444, for instance.
The Chinese are incredibly superstitious. Ridiculously so. I would have thought that most people in Vancouver knew this. You won't see a condo building catering to Chinese with a 4th floor. If there is one, you won't have Chinese people living on it. And the condos on the actual 4th floor, marked as the "5th floor," will be cheaper because no one will want to live in them.
Because they're not stupid. They know it's really the 4th floor, i.e. the "floor of death."
Pro tip: Never give white flowers to a Chinese person in a hospital or at a wedding (or for any other reason), because white is the colour of death. White wedding dresses have become somewhat fashionable due to the Western influence, but red is still the traditional, auspicious colour for celebrations.
Another pro tip: Never give a watch or a clock to a Chinese person, because the word for "clock" sounds like the word for "end," making it a bad omen, i.e. you could be responsible for bringing that person's life to an end.
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