We hope our Chinese domaining expertise provided through this series has helped guide you along the way as you buy and sell numeric domains in the China market. We’ve covered a few different numerics, all consisting of their respective pros and cons, but regardless, we hope that the information has been of great value to you!

For this article, we’re going to cover some ground on what is universally known as China’s “lucky” number: The number 8.

8: 八, Pinyin: Bā

The number 8 in Chinese culture is considered the all-conquering lucky number. Much like the number 4 we covered last time, the number 8 also derives most of its “luckiness” out of sheer coincidental pronunciation. In Mandarin, the character for 8 (八) is pronounced “bā,” which is very close to 发 (fā) in certain dialects, such as the prestigious Cantonese dialect of the rich southern provinces.

This sound-alike character 发 (fā) has many meanings, the most prominent of which is “to prosper,” especially in a financial sense. Consequently, the number 8 symbolizes “generating wealth,” “getting rich,” and “to prosper.”

The character “Fa” in Chinese Mahjong.

In the context of investing in numeric domains with the number 8, this number is very well-known and lucrative because of what it represents: wealth, prosperity and riches. If you’re trying to sell something to a Chinese consumer, having 8’s in your domain string can be very beneficial (so long as every other number makes sense, of course). To put this into perspective, when Chinese people are choosing something with that deals with numerics, such as a car license plate, a mobile phone number, or a QQ number, the number 8 is definitely preferred. The number 8 is considered so lucky and valuable in Chinese culture that sometimes the price for buying a car plate with several 8’s can be higher than the price of a luxury car!

Because of the popularity and prestige associated with the number 8, many of the top-selling numeric domains of all time include the number 8 in the domain name (all data provided by DN Journal):

• 800.com. Sold back in 2009 as a private sale for USD $250,000
• 88888.com. Sold in 2013 via DomainNameSales for USD $245,000
• 880.com. Sold in 2008 via Marchex for USD $188,888.88. Notice how the sale was completed with seven out of eight digits (including the cents!) as the number 8. The buyer most likely did this to enhance their luck. The more 8’s, the most prosperous and lucky they will be!

There are many sound-alikes for the number 8, including “fortune,” and “a bar.” It can commonly be combined to mimic the English term, “bye bye” as well, because of its pronunciation.

• The verb sound-alikes for the number 8 is: to hold, climb, travel, pull, stop, dismiss
• The noun sound-alikes for the number 8 is: daddy, tyrant

Now, let’s go over three categories that domain investors should always keep in mind when researching and registering new Chinese domain names that deal with numerics: References, Puns, and Units of Innate Meaning.

References

8848: This was the domain name of China’s first-ever B2B e-commerce website. Also, 8,848 (meters) was the height of Mount Everest in Chinese school textbooks, which universally tag the mountain as “the highest spot on this planet.” Consequently, 8848 in the typical educated Chinese mindset means “the very peak” of life or career. These days, the textbooks have been rectified with a more precise measurement of the mountain, which is actually 8,844 meters high. Since the rectification happened over a decade ago, it’s safe to presume that most Chinese netizens these days associate the number 8844 with the meaning originally carried by 8848.

Puns

88: Pronounced “ba ba,” this sounds like 拜拜 (bài bài, sounds like the English phrase for goodbye, “bye bye”) which is why one often sees Chinese WeChat or QQ social-communication users sign off with “88.” 88 also sounds exactly like 爸爸 (bà ba) which means “dad/father” in standard Mandarin.

Unit of Innate Meaning

As mentioned several times throughout the article, and possibly the most important aspect of the number 8 that we would want domain investors to take away from this, is that the number 8 is symbolically a lucky number, representing wealth, riches, fortune, and money.

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Moving forward in your Chinese numeric domain name investing, always remember that the number 8 can be very powerful, influential, and sought-after if you use it the right way! If you have any further questions that relate to the number 8, or any numeric for that matter, contact us and our team of experts will do our best to help you answer any questions you may have. In the meantime, head over to ChineseLandrush.com and take a look at our list of hundreds of meaningful, premium-sounding, and readily available Chinese domain suggestions!

Also, if you have a portfolio of English names that you want translated properly into Chinese, let us know! We help domain investors translate English names into Chinese the right way (not the Google way), to get them going on their journey of IDN investing. Not to mention this “My Name Ideas” service is completely free as well!

Stay tuned in the weeks ahead for more in-depth coverage of Chinese domain investing know-how!

As we continue this series, we hope you’re enjoying learning about the nuances of numbers in Chinese culture, and utilizing the information from this series to help you invest in some great Chinese numeric domains!

Although our entire masterclass contains a wide variety of information- from the history of IDNs to how to spin great Chinese domains- for now we’ll continue on with our coverage of numerics.

Today’s topic: The number four.

4: 四, Pinyin: Sì

The number four in Chinese culture is widely known as being a number that carries a negative, superstitious, and relatively gloomy meaning. The number four didn’t quite have this negative cultural significance until later on in China’s history.

Let me explain why:

In Chinese culture, the pronunciation for “4” (sì) and “死” (sǐ, meaning “to die”) are very similar. This coincidence has led the Chinese culture (as it probably would in most any culture!) to become very superstitious about the number four, due to its similarity to death and dying.

To put things into perspective about the superstitious nature of the number four in Chinese culture, it can be compared to the number thirteen in the western world. Many superstitions and urban legends in the western world deem the number thirteen unlucky and negative. Much like the western world’s ghost stories and urban legends that promulgate haunted 13th floors, luck-lacking Friday the 13th’s, and horror movies depicting the 13th as a day of death, many buildings in the Chinese world don’t have a 4th floor for this very same reason.

Furthermore, when choosing a car plate or new phone number, most Chinese people try to avoid the number four since they feel that this number would bring them bad luck.

The most common sound-alikes for the number four are “death,” “to die,” and “a lifetime.” The pinyin spelling of the number four in Mandarin is “sì” and the Cantonese spelling is “sei.”

• The verb sound-alikes for the number four is: to think, to exhaust, to feed, to offer sacrifice, to appear, to watch, to wash (Cantonese)
• The noun sound-alikes for the number four is: silk, company, death
• The adjective sound-alikes for the number four is: personal, private
• The adverb sound-alikes for the number four is: yes, is

Like the last couple of articles, let’s go over three categories that domain investors should always keep in mind when researching and registering new Chinese domain names that deal with numerics: References, Puns, and Units of Innate Meaning.

References

Although the number four typically connotes negativity and death in the Chinese context, it’s not always so. Some references to the number four can be neutral, or even relatively positive.

For example, In the ancient Chinese mythos, there is a famous team known as “The 4 Heavenly Kings,” all of whom have unique capabilities, and are responsible for guarding the heavens. Because of this myth, people often like to use “4” to refer to the top four most powerful or capable people in an industry.

Also, during the Tang dynasty, Chinese people coined the phrase “The 4 Geniuses,” a famous saying that refers to the wisdom of four people who work, or live together. An example of this would be a group of four famous singers and movie stars from Hong Kong called “The 4 Heavenly Kings,” due to their outstanding performances in entertainment for the last 20 years.

Puns

1314: is pronounced “yi-san-yi-si,” which sounds like the old Chinese slogan “生世,” (yi-sheng-yi-shi) meaning “through life and death,” or “forever.”

48: is pronounced “si-ba.” This sounds very much like a phrase that most Chinese people would say possibly up to 50 times a day: “是吧,” (shi-ba) meaning “Right?” or “What do you say?”

Unit of Innate Meaning

We already discussed most of the number four’s meaning earlier, but we’ll go over it again for good measure. The innate meaning for the number four is generally negative and superstitious. It’s unlucky and relates to death, dying and the end of life. The Chinese culture likes to steer clear of things relating to the number four.

As it relates to investing in numeric domains and the number four, it’s pretty clear that it may not be a good idea to register domains that are meant to be used for happy, positive, and life-filled purposes. Doing so may come off rude, confusing, or downright scary in the Chinese context. Also in the Chinese domain investment industry, domains would not be that valuable when it contains a “4” at the left part of the dot. For example, the domain “2828.com” would most likely be sold at a higher price than the domain “4848.com,” as the latter sounds like “GoDieGoDie.com.”

If you have any further questions that relate to the number four, or any numeric for that matter, contact us and our team of experts, and we will do our best to help you answer any questions you may have. In the meantime, head over to ChineseLandrush.com and take a look at our list of hundreds of meaningful, premium-sounding, and readily available Chinese domain suggestions!

Also, if you have a portfolio of English names that you want translated properly into Chinese, let us know! We help domain investors translate English names into Chinese the right way (not the Google way), to get them going on their journey of IDN investing. Not to mention this service is completely free as well!

Stay tuned in the weeks ahead for more in-depth coverage of Chinese domain investing know-how!

We hope you enjoyed the last article, which was all about the number seven. Before we dive into our next topic, which will remain analyzing individual numerics (for now!), let’s recap some important points from the last article:

• Numerics in Chinese culture are used as symbols, puns, references, and units of innate meaning.
• The complexity of numerics in Chinese result in each individual number having multiple sound-alikes for its corresponding nouns, adjectives, and verbs.
• It’s important to pair numbers together that accurately represent the meaning of the numeric string, otherwise it will just be a garbled mess of numbers.

It’s important to keep these points in mind as you continue your journey of IDN investing, regardless of the number that’s being covered.

Now that we have that out of the way, let’s introduce our next number!

3: 三, Pinyin: Sān

The number 3 in Chinese is considered “the limit,” “coming to the end of tolerance,” and “trying repeatedly” in old Chinese culture. This is due to an old saying, ““事不过三” (shì-bù-guò-sān), meaning “nothing should occur more than three times.” The English equivalent to this meaning would be “three strikes and you’re out.” Usually when people say this, they are giving you a warning, meaning “don’t make the same mistake again.” Also, 3 is traditionally a generic number which signifies a “small group.” There are many Chinese idioms that use the form “three people…” however, the idiom doesn’t necessarily mean exactly three people, it just means “more than one person.”

As mentioned before, the Mandarin word for three is “san.” The Cantonese word for three, is “sei.” The most common sound-alike for three is “a life.”

• The verb sound-alikes for three is: to become, loose, adjourn.
• The noun sound-alikes for three is: umbrella, mountain, clothes (Cantonese)
• The adjective sound-alikes for three is: leisurely

As we discussed in last week’s article about the number seven, let’s go over some references, puns, and symbols that involve the number three.

Reference

3721: Derived from a Chinese folk saying “I don’t care if 3 multiplied by 7 makes 21,” meaning “I don’t care if this is good/ right/possible/intended, I’m doing it anyway.” 3721 was the first system used in China as a localization tool that resolved what looked like Chinese character URLs into real websites, and is now considered to be China’s most notorious malware.

Pun

384: The movie star Sebastian Stan is now commonly referred to by his fans on Sina Weibo as 384 (pronounced “san-ba-si”), because the number is a homophone to “Sebas…”: a lot faster to type and shorter to pronounce.

Unit of Innate Meaning

When Chinese people talk about the number 3, it can be understood in many different ways in various situations, rather than having just one universal meaning.

From a historical perspective, there are some famous books and old sayings that relate to the number 3:

1. “When three people are walking along, one of them could be my teacher.” – Confucian Analects by Confucius. This old saying is often used by teachers and parents to educate the children that they should be humble and learn from others.
2. One of the four most famous Chinese ancient long novels is the Romance of 3 Kingdoms, which introduces stories about wars and friendship between 3 kingdoms, 1800 years ago.
3. As discussed previously in this article, the number three symbolizes “the limit” or “small group,” synonymous to “three strikes, and you’re out!”
4. In Taoism, 3 stands for everything: Tao generates one, then one generates two, then two generates three. Finally, 3 generates everything in the universe.

In most cases, however, the number 3 may refer to some negative meanings in the modern day world:

1. In Mandarin, 3 sounds like “San,” which means “breaking up,” or “divorce.” It can also mean a team that has disbanded.
2. The word “Little 3,” in Mandarin, which sounds like “Xiao San,” stands for the mistress who ruined a relationship.

Remember! Keeping the following points in mind will help you as you pursue Chinese numeric domaining:

• Numerics that make up puns in Chinese culture will be recognizable to Chinese netizens. The better the pun, the more valuable your numeric string will be. Keep this in mind with the number three!
• The number three is fairly neutral, but can also have negative meanings as well, if you’re not careful. Make sure to correctly pair its meanings and sound-alikes with other numbers.
• Utilize the number three with other numbers correctly. Remember the innate meaning of the number three, and make sure to pair it with other numbers that accurately represent the meaning of the numeric string, otherwise it will just be a garbled mess of numbers!

Now that you’ve got some handy information on the number three and the number seven, try coming up with some great numeric domains involving those numbers! Also, check out our list of FREE Chinese domain name suggestions on the front page of ChineseLandrush.com, and pick up some awesome numeric domains there as well!

In January 2015, we presented the world’s first, and still currently the world’s only Chinese Domaining Masterclass, at the industry-leading domain investing conference, NamesCon. After several months of research, development, writing, and refining, we created a 120-page curriculum for western domain investors to use as a resource to help them confidently invest in Chinese-specific domains, without knowing a single word of Chinese. Our presentations drew in hundreds of participants, and resulted in over 50 graduates, who took home a hard copy of the masterclass curriculum.

Now we are pleased to release portions of the acclaimed and sought-after masterclass curriculum to the general public, in the form of a blog series, which will be weekly blog posts focused on providing tips and tricks to help you invest in Chinese IDNs, again, without knowing anything about the Chinese language.

Today’s topic: Chinese numerics, specifically, the number seven.

7:七, Pinyin: qī

Numerics in Chinese culture are incredibly popular for many reasons, such as being used as symbols, puns, references, and units of innate meaning. China’s culture has embraced the use of numerics, and having a foundational understanding of the role of numerics in Chinese culture can help you tremendously as you continue your journey of Chinese IDN investing.

Let’s take a look at the number seven.

Seven is pronounced “qī,” which is close to 气 (qì, meaning “anger”). Given this meaning, we can extrapolate that the number seven in Chinese culture is slightly unlucky. China’s culture is oft known for achieving and maintaining harmony in several aspects of life, so the number seven isn’t particularly a number that you would want to use when referring to, or using it to represent harmonious synonyms, such as peace, tranquility, and confidence.

The most common sound-alikes for the number seven are “together” and “to eat.”

The verb sound-alikes for the number seven is:

• To cheat
• Implore
• To ride
• Rise
• Start
• Abandon

The noun sound-alikes for seven is:

• Wife
• A period of time
• Intense cold
• Boundary
• Gas
• Flag
• Paint

The adjective sound-alikes for seven is:

• Sorrowful
• Ashamed
• Divergent
• Mountainous
• Angry

So how does the number seven work when it’s combined with other numbers? Below are some examples of Chinese puns that include the number seven:

7878: Pronounced “qi-ba-qi-ba.” This sounds like 去吧去吧 (qu-ba-qu-ba, or “Go! Go! Go!”).

7788: Chinese old saying, meaning “about so,” “that’s almost it,” “nearly done.”

517: Pronounced “wu-yao-qi.” These syllables map easily to 我要吃 (wo-yao-chi or “I want to eat!”). McDonald’s Corporation was so enamored of this pun that it set up 400-517-517 as the company’s national toll-free home delivery service phone number. “517” has become so closely identified with McDonalds for this reason that a USA-based Google search for “400517517” displays the McDonald’s China website as the top result, and Baidu displays a wide menu to fast food ads for the same search!

As you can see, the number seven is used in many different puns, meanings, and references. So how does this explanation of the number seven in Chinese culture help you to wisely invest in Chinese numeric domains?

1. Numerics that make up puns in Chinese culture will be recognizable to Chinese netizens. The better the pun, the more valuable your numeric string will be. Keep this in mind with the number seven!
2. The number seven isn’t particularly lucky, or harmonious. Make sure to keep this in mind while registering numerics with seven involved.
3. Utilize the number seven with other numbers correctly. Remember the innate meaning of the number seven, and make sure to pair it with other numbers that accurately represent the meaning of the numeric string, otherwise it will just be a garbled mess of numbers!

We hope that this article on the number seven will help you to go forward in your IDN investment endeavors relating to numeric domains. Stay tuned for our article next week, which will focus on a different number!

In the meantime, take advantage of our free Chinese domain spinning tool over at ChineseLandrush.com! At ChineseLandrush.com, there are hundreds of free, premium-level Chinese domain suggestions made by real live native Chinese speakers, refreshed often, that are available at normal retail registrar “General Availability” prices!