A move by Beijing's traffic management bureau to stop issuing car license plates bearing the "unlucky" number "4" has been greeted with a mixed response.

Starting Monday, drivers in the capital who bought new cars and wanted to license them did not have the option of picking a plate bearing the number after the Beijing Traffic Management Bureau (BTMB) removed it from the license plate choosing system.

At the motor vehicles hall run by the BTMB, applicants for a license plate could no longer see the number among the 200 plates on the billboard.

According to the BTMB, the decision was made because license plates bearing a "4" have always been unpopular. Many Chinese people think the number is unlucky because it sounds similar to the word for death.

Some drivers applauded the decision.

"It's a thoughtful move," said Guo Yanping, an employee at a tourist agency who has been driving for eight years. "Every time I pick car numbers for myself or my family members, I carefully avoid the numbers '4' and '7'.

"I don't consider it superstitious. It has just become subconscious."

But for some potential car buyers, the move is ridiculous. Cui Wen, 24, who is preparing to buy a car in Beijing, was frustrated by the prospect of owning a plate without a "4", which she thinks is a good number.

"I was born on June 4," she said. "So, I have always considered it as my lucky number."

The bureau said people can still get their hands on a license plate with a "4" - if they use the online car number choosing system.

Cui pointed out that the capital's system of limiting the number of cars in the downtown will be complicated by the move.

Cars are blocked from journeying downtown on certain days of the week based on the final number on their license plate.

With fewer "4"s than ever on the roads, days on which cars with a "4" on the license plate are blocked will have particularly heavy traffic, she said.

An official with the BTMB insisted there will not be much difference.

The car-control policy has restricted the potential number of cars on the capital's roads by 20 percent each day since it was introduced in 2008.

However, the total number of cars owned by Beijingers has shot up sharply and there are now 4.5 million cars in the capital, which is 20 percent more than there were two years ago.

China Daily

(China Daily 10/20/2010 page25)