888 is a very significant to the Chinese. 8 is a lucky number, and, as one Chinese person told me, 888 is the luckiest possible number. (I would think 88,888,888 would be even luckier, but I'm not Chinese. Anyway, I don't suppose 88,888,888 would come up very often in the natural course of events.) People in China will pay a premium to have a phone number, or a house number, or a car license number, that ends in 888.

In 2005, the US Postal Service issued a stamp to commemorate the "Lunar" (i.e. Chinese) New Year. Stamps cost 37 cents each then, and the stamps were sold in sheets of 24. This is unusual; most stamps come 10, 20 or 50 to a sheet. But 24 x $0.37 = $8.88 – which can't be a coincidence. This was pointed out to me by an anthropology professor who specializes in Chinese studies. (I work in the post office of a university.) However, I searched the information about the stamp at the USPS web site—they put out a press release for each new stamp—and I couldn't find that the significance of $8.88 was mentioned anywhere. So I guess it was meant to be an inside joke between the stamp designer and those familiar with Chinese culture.