There is a local heating and air-conditioning company whose phone number is: 444-4444. It is easy to remember for sure, but I wonder if they've ever noticed that they rarely have any Chinese customers (I'm assuming). Because as Americanized as I am, I am quite familiar that in the Cantonese language, the number 4 is very bad indeed. Something about it sounding like the word for 'death.' I bet if you were to check out the addresses or phone numbers for Chinese restaurants and businesses in the yellow pages, you would very rarely find the number 4 in any of them. And lucky for the Chinese? The number 8! Here is the address and phone number for Restaurant Peony in Oakland Chinatown for example:
388 9th Street, Suite 288
Oakland, CA 94607
(510) 286-8866
Lots of 8's, and hardly any 4's (the 4 in the zip code being hard to avoid).
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