Gong Xi Fa Cai!

[seadzz]

To all MR members and those hardworking folks working in China building our DAP's,

A very happy Spring Festival (Chinese New Year)!

Considering this is the year of the rooster (male chicken) this is a very important year and means something special but I forgot what exactly it is.

In reality what it means to you non-chinese folks is the factories in China are shut down for 7-10 days with all the workers returning to their villages to be with their wife\hubbie kids or parents. Also means that 10-20% of these employees will not return to work in the iRiver factories since they have a year's worth of savings in their pocket and in China that goes a long way. It more importantly means new factory workers will be needed and must be trained to replace this people shortfall.

All this is normal and most mfg are geared for this seasonal problem. Just do consider this fact when you purchase players that were made during late Feb to early Mar of '05.

A little like buying a car that was mfg on a friday....not a good idea.

All kidding aside, have a joyus season my chinese friends!

sdz

[andrewmel]

And a happy new year to you as well!!!!

88888888

z

[SnoopsterJ]

=P happy new year to everyone! lol chinese people are so superstitious, especially with numbers and the calendar and stuff. i'm pure honger myself but i have found that some chinese people are TOO superstitious. anyways. bright red, 888, gong hay fat choi, and the rest of the works to everyone of you. sigh. aren't i such a hypocrite.

[BlaqReaper]

well just not the chinese . What about the 13th floor (here in the U.S.) that never exists? ...O. And a Happy New Years as well ! .

[TrancemasterNV]

I always laugh when floors go 12 then 14. I'm sure that EVERYONE on 14 knows that they're really on 13. But then why aren't book companies reluctant to have a Chapter 11? Shouldn't they go 10 then 12?

But yes, Happy New Year!

[andrewmel]

Do they really go 12, 14?

I had heard that but thought it was crap!!!

And then there is the 7 1/2th floor in Being John Malkovich (cant remember the number exactly).

z

[seadzz]

Chinese buildings never have a 4th floor for a similar reason and you could not give away a home or cell phone number with four's in it. They save those numbers for foreigners. The number 4 in chinese soundsl like the word for death.

As another tidbit, white cars are used to carry dead bodies.....so almost never see a white car at least in the PRC.

sdz

[TrancemasterNV]

Well, not all buildings go 12 then 14. But a lot do, lots of hotels do that.

Never knew that about 4 in China. Haha, if I ever get a phone there (supposing I go to China and stay long enough to need a phone), I'll make sure to not look too much like a foreigner and get a # with a 4 in it! :-d

[DreamTactix291]

Originally Posted by seadzz

Chinese buildings never have a 4th floor for a similar reason and you could not give away a home or cell phone number with four's in it. They save those numbers for foreigners. The number 4 in chinese soundsl like the word for death.

This is the same in Japanese. Both death and four are pronounced "shi"

And happy Spring Festival.

[sabaisabai]

Gong xi fa cai!

IIRC buildings in Hong Kong also skip floors numbered with a final 1, so 11, 21, etc get skipped.

Speaking of superstition, the queue at the lottery shop at my apartment was huge this morning! Apparently 'gong xi fa cai' translates to 'wishing you prosperity'... let's see how the lotto goes.

It's only a half work-day today and the next two days are public holidays, but I'll be working 9-9 on the help desk over these three days, seeing as I'm the only angmoh (caucasian) in the company.. it was my choice to work.

[andrewmel]

does "angmoh" have a literal translation?

a

[TedJ]

Originally Posted by andrewmel

does "angmoh" have a literal translation?

a

I'm guessing from Sab's post that it means "gullible fool willing to work 12 hour shifts while we celebrate", but I could be wrong...

Happy spring festival to you all.

[sabaisabai]

Heh! I'm the gullible fool who will get more pay this month!

Angmoh means 'red head', I think.

[floodgate]

"ang moh" literally means "red hair", or "red fur"

(hair on your head is "tao moh", which means "head hair")

anyway, the new year greet that's currently going around on mobile phones goes something like this:
"happy new year, [insert some nice wishes], and hope you c()ck up less this year!"

[sabaisabai]

Thanks for the explanation floodgate. Yeah, I received a pretty rude New Year SMS today, where the words 'gong xi fa cai' were all substituted with something else. I've already deleted the message and can't remember what they were..

We got a nice CNY present yesterday - successfully passing on our Permanent Residency application. Woo hoo!

can't you write poopypoopypoopypoopy in this forum? Let's see

Originally Posted by floodgate

"ang moh" literally means "red hair", or "red fur"

(hair on your head is "tao moh", which means "head hair")

anyway, the new year greet that's currently going around on mobile phones goes something like this:
"happy new year, [insert some nice wishes], and hope you c()ck up less this year!"

[floodgate]

Originally Posted by sabaisabai

We got a nice CNY present yesterday - successfully passing on our Permanent Residency application. Woo hoo!

sounds good to me!

[gfgfmoses]

Originally Posted by seadzz

Chinese buildings never have a 4th floor for a similar reason and you could not give away a home or cell phone number with four's in it. They save those numbers for foreigners. The number 4 in chinese soundsl like the word for death.

As another tidbit, white cars are used to carry dead bodies.....so almost never see a white car at least in the PRC.

sdz

when u know these? BC or AD? as lived in PRC for most of my life none of above things have ever come to me......

education is important~~~~

[zaxios]

Originally Posted by seadzz

Chinese buildings never have a 4th floor for a similar reason and you could not give away a home or cell phone number with four's in it. They save those numbers for foreigners. The number 4 in chinese soundsl like the word for death.

In which Chinese dialect? Are you maybe getting mixed up with Japanese, where both the word for four and the word for death is "shi"? That said, I've been to Japan and never known any instance of 4th floor nor phone number superstition.

[coreman]

Originally Posted by zaxios

In which Chinese dialect? Are you maybe getting mixed up with Japanese, where both the word for four and the word for death is "shi"? That said, I've been to Japan and never known any instance of 4th floor nor phone number superstition.

Ahh...my young grasshoppers...you should listen to the wise village elder known as One Hung Lo, more commonly known by his Mystic name of Seadzz..he knows of which he speaks...

Even in Taiwan, there are no fourth floors, many foolish people pay BIG MONEY to get licence plate with "8" in it, or telephone number with "8"...even the world's tallest building has "8" main sections to it, all for good luck. White is the color of death, red the color of good fortune...that is why the bride wears a white dress, it symbolizes the death of the man ( )...

You doubters should seek the truth in the Republic of China (aka Taiwan, Formosa, China's arch enemy, target of >500 missiles)..of course, I would prefer to be on the exhaust end of the missiles, like Seadzz...

I suspect that if the PRC doesn't have a fourth floor, it's because they forgot it...quality control isn't as good as in Taiwan where we leave the fourth floor out because of superstition!!

Shi nien Kwyler!

[kagelump]

Originally Posted by zaxios

In which Chinese dialect? Are you maybe getting mixed up with Japanese, where both the word for four and the word for death is "shi"? That said, I've been to Japan and never known any instance of 4th floor nor phone number superstition.

four - 四 (si, same in manderin (sp?) and japanese)
ten - 十 (shi, in manderin (sp?), jyuu in japanese)
both of these sounds like 死 (si), meaning death, pronounced 'shi' in japanese
eight - 八, sounds like 發

and... i don't think we (taiwanese) care much about this superstition to change building number
they had toys on the 4th floor of this department store (), so i know

[coreman]

Originally Posted by kagelump

four - 四 (si, same in manderin (sp?) and japanese)
ten - 十 (shi, in manderin (sp?), jyuu in japanese)
both of these sounds like 死 (si), meaning death, pronounced 'shi' in japanese
eight - 八, sounds like 發

and... i don't think we (taiwanese) care much about this superstition to change building number
they had toys on the 4th floor of this department store (), so i know

Check the elevator buttons...there is a fourth floor but to get there you may have to push "5". Not all buildings are this way but I've seen more than a couple without "4"s on the elevator, mostly hotels though.

[kagelump]

really? o.o;....
main places i go to don't do that...
in taipei?
(i've never been to china =P)

[coreman]

Originally Posted by kagelump

really? o.o;....
main places i go to don't do that...
in taipei?(i've never been to china =P)

One sticks in my head...Rebar Crown Plaza Hotel on E. Nanking Str...go visit!