1.3m yuan for lucky car plate
By Wang Qingchu |
October 22, 2010, Friday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
A CAR license plate featuring the lucky number 8 has been auctioned off for a record 1.314 million yuan (US$197,540) in Guangzhou in south China.
Meanwhile, in another example of China's superstitious attachment to numbers, Beijing is to remove the unlucky number 4 from car plates offered by transport authorities.
The license plate "A8888Q" was bought at an auction in the capital of Guangdong Province on Tuesday, smashing the previous record of 747,000 yuan reached in October 2007, the Southern Metropolis Daily reported yesterday.
The identity of the buyer, who is from Guangzhou, was not disclosed.
The plate was much sought after as 8 - ba in Chinese - is pronounced the same as "fortune" in Canton dialect. Two bidders forced the price up to 1.314m yuan, more expensive than the imported luxury car the buyer owns.
A total of 100 plates were for sale at the auction. Eight featuring the most auspicious numbers had a starting price of 10,000 yuan, while bidding for the rest began at 5,000 yuan.
License plates A6666Q and A3333P were the second and third most expensive, fetching 751,000 yuan and 680,000 yuan respectively.
The total volume of sales was almost 10m yuan, an all-time high for a single Guangzhou car plate auction.
The popularity of the sale may be explained by the long interval - four months - between this auction and the previous one, analysts said.
Meanwhile, Beijing vehicle administration office has decided to remove 4 - si in Chinese - which sounds like the word for "death," from car plates randomly offered by the system, Shanghai Morning Post reported yesterday.
The new policy will not impact on current traffic restrictions under which vehicles are banned from the roads one out of five working days, based on the last digit of their license plate.
As it is an unpopular number, few car plates end with 4, so the day with restrictions on car plates ending in 4 and 9 won't see a significant drop in car volume, traffic authorities said.
Beijing residents can choose to have a personalized license plate or one randomly offered by the system.
Meanwhile, in another example of China's superstitious attachment to numbers, Beijing is to remove the unlucky number 4 from car plates offered by transport authorities.
The license plate "A8888Q" was bought at an auction in the capital of Guangdong Province on Tuesday, smashing the previous record of 747,000 yuan reached in October 2007, the Southern Metropolis Daily reported yesterday.
The identity of the buyer, who is from Guangzhou, was not disclosed.
The plate was much sought after as 8 - ba in Chinese - is pronounced the same as "fortune" in Canton dialect. Two bidders forced the price up to 1.314m yuan, more expensive than the imported luxury car the buyer owns.
A total of 100 plates were for sale at the auction. Eight featuring the most auspicious numbers had a starting price of 10,000 yuan, while bidding for the rest began at 5,000 yuan.
License plates A6666Q and A3333P were the second and third most expensive, fetching 751,000 yuan and 680,000 yuan respectively.
The total volume of sales was almost 10m yuan, an all-time high for a single Guangzhou car plate auction.
The popularity of the sale may be explained by the long interval - four months - between this auction and the previous one, analysts said.
Meanwhile, Beijing vehicle administration office has decided to remove 4 - si in Chinese - which sounds like the word for "death," from car plates randomly offered by the system, Shanghai Morning Post reported yesterday.
The new policy will not impact on current traffic restrictions under which vehicles are banned from the roads one out of five working days, based on the last digit of their license plate.
As it is an unpopular number, few car plates end with 4, so the day with restrictions on car plates ending in 4 and 9 won't see a significant drop in car volume, traffic authorities said.
Beijing residents can choose to have a personalized license plate or one randomly offered by the system.
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