LOS ANGELES—Hong Kong immigrants living in the American city known as the "Chinese Beverly Hills" are (36) . because they face losing a lucky phone number—818, or prosperity followed by more prosperity.
Many people living in Monterey Park, the only U.S. city with a (37) of Asian residents, attribute its growing affluence to the country’s most (38) three-digit area code.
But rapidly increasing demand for telephones means the 818 group is (39) out, and the phone company is proposing to split it in two, giving Monterey Park 626 instead.
Chinese residents are (40) because the new number adds up to 14—colloquially translating to certain death.
The city filed a formal (41) with California’s Public Utilities Commission, arguing that many Chinese residents of the San Gabriel Valley had moved there only because of the area code.
A spokesman said that there was also strong (42) for real estate with lucky street numbers.
One (43) of neighboring Alhambra, which also has a large Chinese population, is Hong Kong-born property developer Raymond Cheng, (44) . The number plates of his Rolls-Royce and two Mercedes-Benz cars are predominantly eights.
He also recalled having to complete a contract to remodel a Monterey Park bank in a rush (45) , the highly auspicious double eight.
" (46) ,"he was quoted as saying.