The number 8 is a lucky number

The Beijing Olympics start tomorrow night at 8:08pm on 8/8/08. In China, the number is pronounced “ba,” which closely resembles the word for prosperity (fa) . Brides like the wedding date because, turned on its side, 8 forms the symbol for infinity. (Grooms just like an anniversary date they can actually remember.)

Among the qualities that made 8/8/08 so attractive to Chinese Olympic officials is the numeral's perfect symmetry: it's the only number that can be sliced in half, horizontally or vertically, with each half mirroring the other.

Chinese numerology is itself a hall of mirrors, in which other numerals do not fare as well as the Great 8. For Chinese, the lucky number eight represents getting rich, similar to 7-7-7 in America.

Let the games begin!