The luckiest number in the Chinese official language of Mandarin is the number eight, which means "prosperity," "fortune" or "wealth."

"By commencing the Beijing Olympics on 08.08.2008, at eight minutes past eight o'clock in the evening will certainly guarantee that the Games will be carried out under the most auspicious of circumstances," Wang Hua, a Beijinger said.

More than 16,400 couples in the Chinese capital have so far booked to obtain a wedding licence on August eight.

China now has the world's fastest growing economy and a recent poll found that a majority of Chinese believes that the double-digit economic growth had improved their own standard of living.

In China, it is common to see customised license plates bearing as many number eights as possible.

Most companies and hotels also try to fit as many number eights in their street addresses or telephone numbers, depending on their pocket.

Most telephone companies and car registration authorities have adopted a policy of charging a premium for each number eight wanted by the customer. Someone has even purchased the telephone number 8888-8888, spending millions.

The 'most unfortunate' number in the Chinese culture is the number four, due to its similar pronunciation with, among others, "death."

Some companies even skip this number altogether when bringing out new versions of their products to the market.

Most residential apartments and office buildings do not have fourth floor as the owners may have renamed it not to bring bad luck.

Meanwhile, authorities are hoping that the "lucky" day will lead to a hassle-free Olympics especially amid concerns about bad weather in Beijing.

Historical data indicate a 41 per cent precipitation chance in Beijing on August 8.

Beijing is keen to avoid a repeat of what happened at the opening of 15th Asian Games in December 2006 in Doha, Qatar. In a country where rain has been rarely seen, a deluge soaked athletes and spectators during the expensive and breathtaking opening ceremony.

China has mobilised a 32,000-strong team of people with science and engineering background and cloud seeding technology to drive way clouds on the d-day.

The Beijing weather engineering office, under the Beijing Municipal Meteorological Bureau, is in charge of the massive 'Olympic weather modification' project.

The office has been asked to prevent rain from falling during the three and half hours -- from 8:08 p.m. to around 11:30 p.m. -- onto the Bird's Nest, the open-air National Stadium which will host the opening ceremony, media reports said.

One main strategy of the Chinese meteorologists is to engineer weather in order to keep the Olympics dry for at least the first three and half hours. Such research and experiments have been conducted since 2001.

Cloud seeding is achieved by shooting shells or rockets containing silver iodide particles into clouds.

The icy particles freeze drops in the clouds, make the drops continue growing and eventually fall out of the clouds.

The weather engineering office is weaving a defensive web from adjacent provinces to the Beijing suburbs. Twenty-six control stations have been established to fend off dark clouds or delay their movement.

The urgency on weather engineering for the Olympic arises from the fact that the main sports venue has no roof.

Architects did include a controlled full roof in their original design.