China earthquake: Superstition a potent force

On January 25th, blizzards and snowstorms blanketed much of the country, paralysing the railways just as hundreds of millions of people were preparing to travel to their hometowns for the Chinese New Year.

Two months later on March 14, the protests erupted in the Tibetan capital Lhasa and the government’s heavy-handed response saw China condemned around the world. Then the earthquake struck on May 12.

For the conspiracy theorists, the common denominator is that when the date of each of these three disasters is added together, the result is 8. That is somehow proof that 2008 was destined to be a bad year for China. So 2 and 5 and 1, for January, makes 8, as does 1 and 4 and 3 and now 1 and 2 and 5.

And, of course, May 12 was precisely 88 days before the start of the Olympics. If the trend continues, July 1 is set to be a difficult day for China too.