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| -Lurid Crime Tales- |
| Lucky 8 license plate lands 5 Chinese in jail |
| 2009-09-23 |
| [Al Arabiya Latest] A "lucky" license plate turned out not to be so lucky for five men who were jailed in Beijing for up to 16 months for fighting over the plate that ended in four eights, China's traditional number for good fortune. The men allegedly armed themselves with knives and clubs and beat anyone who came near a machine issuing new license plate numbers at a Beijing vehicle registration center, the state-owned Beijing News reported Tuesday. Several people were injured, one of them seriously. The incident occurred in July last year as plates with "8888" as the last four digits were about to be issued, the report said. The ringleader, identified only as Xu, had lined up four cars for new plates and paid his four accomplices a total of 10,000 yuan ($1,400) to guard the machine and ensure he got the numbers he wanted, it said. A Beijing court ordered the five to pay 55,000 yuan ($8,054) in compensation to their victims, the paper said. |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #1 Chinese take their superstitions seriously. Just try telling them that 8888 doesn't mean that you live longer, or that China's military is not equal to the West. It's like talking to a brick wall. |
| Posted by: gromky 2009-09-23 04:07 |