I’ve been in a lot of high-rise buildings, here in Hong Kong. Twenty, at the least. Thirty, more likely.

And I have yet to see a floor numbered 4. Or, for that matter, a floor numbered 14, 24 or 34. Not a single floor with the number four attached to it.

This, apparently, is because the Chinese believe “four”  is a profoundly unlucky number.

Have a look at this link. Scroll down to the part about unlucky numbers.

It’s only wikipedia, so no one should take it as Gospel … but the gist of it clearly is true: The Chinese (in Beijing and Hong Kong, anyway, cities I have lived in this year) avoid the number .

Apparently, it is because the word for “four” sounds very much like (or is the same as) the word for “death.”

It would seem the Chinese have opinions on all sorts of numbers, if the wiki entry is to be believed.

Commentators often note the “similarity” to the Western/American aversion to the number 13.

Yes, 13 is considered unlucky, but we don’t flee from it. Most planes have a row 13. Most buildings have a 13th floor. Some don’t, but a significant number of them do. Nearly every football team has someone not only willing but eager to wear the No. 13 jersey.

Chinese aversion to 4 is much more profound than ours for 13. If/when I see their national soccer team play again, I’d like to see if anyone wears the No. 4 jersey.

Anyway, the apartment building I’m living in now has 29 floors, to look at the buttons in the elevator. But then you see there is no fourth floor, no 14th floor, no 24th floor. So this actually is a 29-story building and I actually am staying on the 21st floor, not the 23rd.

The nuttiest example of number-fear I’ve seen so far? At the semi-ritzy Harbour Plaza hotel.

In the elevators there, they marvelously combine Western and Chinese superstitions. Not only are there no floors with a four in them, there also is no 13th floor. Thus, if you are on the 12th floor, the floor just above you is … the 15th.

I’m going to pay more attention to this. See how deeply it has taken hold. My first, second and third impressions are … “four” and “China” just do not get along.