Thousands of Chinese people competed at auctions over the weekend to buy a “lucky” phone number, which eventually sold for a staggering 2.25 million yuan, or $ 300,000.
The number ends with five 8’s – a number considered lucky because the word “eight” in Mandarin is the same name as the word “prosperity.”
More than 5,000 people participated in the auctions which took place on Saturday and Sunday.
It is common in China for companies looking to impress their customers or for wealthy individuals to pay for a phone number considered “lucky”.
The 8 is the most sought after number, traditionally being a sign of luck and success. When Beijing hosted the Olympics in 2008, the opening ceremony officially began at 8:08 a.m. on August 8.
The least popular number is 4, which in Mandarin is pronounced like the word “death”.
The auction record for a phone number goes to a number ending in eight 7, namesake of the words “rise” and “the essence of life”. It had sold 3.91 million yuan.