888 888 88: Is this the luckiest phone number?

The luckiest phone number in China?

In 2003 a Chinese Airline paid $280,000 for the telephone nuber: 8888 8888 at a special auction in the south-western Chinese province of Sichuan.

Many people in China regard the number 8 to be lucky, because it is pronounced in a similar way to the Mandarin and Cantonese words for getting rich.

So an number containing the number 8 (eight times) is thought to be especially lucky.

The airline company is planning to use the number for a 24-hour customer service hot line.

The number is also easy to remember, of course

The local government generated a sum of 7.13 million yuan through the auction.