Car licence plates in two major cities of south China's Guandong Province will not have the number "four" from this month - a move that has led to heated debate among officials, scholars and residents.

Some hail it as an extraordinary gesture: for the first time, a public agency - central or regional - has taken into account local customs and taboos.

Others worry it would spur superstition in society.

The figure "four" sounds like "death" in the local Cantonese dialect; and many residents go out of their way to avoid the perceived unlucky number in their daily life. And it came as a pleasant surprise for many when the vehicle management administrations in Guangzhou, the provincial capital, and Shenzhen Special Economic Zone decided that the figure would not be used on licence plates.

The figure has been cleared from the computer data banks which generate the six-digit licence numbers for local vehicles.

The new measure is expected to cover the entire province before the end of the year.

An official from Guangzhou Municipal Vehicle Management Administration said the new measure aims to satisfy the large number of car owners who avoid having the number on their licences.

Mainstream documents and ideology earlier frowned on such behavior, labeling it superstition and ignorance; and little attention was paid to people's concerns about the number.

But the rising number of traffic accidents have been troubling everyone from policy makers and traffic management officials to motorists and pedestrians so much that all measures are being considered to solve the problem.

The official said many car owners were prepared to pay extra and try again if they were offered a computer-generated licence plate that had the figure "four."

Zheng Shaowei, a Guangzhou taxi driver, said the new measure eases the minds of many drivers who consider the figure taboo.

Guan Jingzhang, a member of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference in Foshan of Guangdong Province, said the new measure respects local culture and customs, and creates a humanistic system.

But Xu Shaozhang, a professor at Guangzhou-based Jinan University, said the figure has nothing to do with "death" and the new measure would buttress local superstitions.

Chen Jinzhong, a Guangzhou executive, said the move reflects an unhealthy mentality of local residents.

And many students of the Vocal Music Section of Guangzhou Xinghai University of Music, too, are against the measure.

The fear of "four" is evident everywhere in major cities in the province that borders Hong Kong and Macao special administrative regions.

Foreigners on their first visit are often confused to find the fourth, the 14th or the 24th floors missing in buildings.

In some buildings, they eventually get used to pressing 3A or 3B, or 13A or 13B for the fourth or 14th floors in lifts.

Baihua Plaza, a landmark building in Foshan, does not have the 4th, 14th or 24th floors. The third floor is followed by the fifth floor while the one above the 13th is 15th.

According to Liu Wancai, who sells lottery tickets in Guangzhou, few people pick "four" when they buy lottery tickets despite the fact that the number turns up in many winning combinations.

In Guangzhou, a new cellphone user is usually offered "compensation" in the form of extra services valued at between 100 yuan (US$12) and 500 yuan (US$60) if he or she chooses four as the last number of his or her cellphone.

(China Daily March 8, 2004)